


With You

by Gigi_Bell



Series: Recovery [19]
Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Anal Sex, Angst with a Happy Ending, Architect Park Chanyeol, Artist Byun Baekhyun, Byun Baekhyun Has a Mullet, Dating, Falling In Love, Gentle Kissing, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Domestic Violence, M/M, Misunderstandings, Oral Sex, Pining, Romantic Fluff, Second Chances, Slow Romance, Smut, True Love, Whipped Park Chanyeol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-08
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-15 09:54:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 29,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29806653
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gigi_Bell/pseuds/Gigi_Bell
Summary: Five years had passed since he last saw Baekhyun only for it to turn out he was the artist behind a painting Chanyeol had his eye on for months.Things go awry when Baekhyun brushes him off and remembers him as “the first guy that broke my heart.”Now, the question was how in the world had Chanyeol broken his heart when he’d never had a relationship with Baekhyun to begin with?
Relationships: Byun Baekhyun/Park Chanyeol
Series: Recovery [19]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2106513
Comments: 19
Kudos: 133





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This work is solely mine, I do not allow stories to be posted on any other site, and any translations that are done will be posted here on my own page, I don’t allow my works to be posted under any other accounts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With You lyrics are literally this entire storyline, thank you Ri for pointing it out 😭
> 
> https://colorcodedlyrics.com/2018/11/exo-with-you-gaggeum

Chanyeol wasn’t the type of person that sat at art auctions and bid on the overpriced replicas of art that seemed to be done a million times.

He was more into art that seemed unique and well crafted, because there was a certain _feeling_ behind it.

He spent a lot of his free time in art museums just to see if anything stuck out at him, because the art in museums always seemed so unique to him. 

Little mom and pop art shops were his first choice when digging for new art - one could say he was a bit of an art connoisseur, someone who loved to look at art, but he himself wasn’t all that great at it.

Chanyeol was more on the “industrial”, for lack of a better word, side of art. He was an architect. He had his own company and designed outlines for buildings, but he didn’t really consider himself _artistic._

He considered buildings and other concrete landmarks much different than the feeling someone could put into a few splashes of color.

Maybe he loved art because he was envious he could never make such beautiful things, _but_ he always wrote it off as him being attached to the emotions the painter described.

The painting Chanyeol had been obsessed with would be the _only_ reason he had for stepping into any auction house, because one of his favorite art museums, one showcasing only local citizens' art rather than famous artists, had closed down.

There was this painting Chanyeol had wanted for four months up for auction. 

It was a rather sad looking painting. At first glance one might find it even “simple”, being that it was a young boy sitting on the side of the road. 

But Chanyeol could _feel_ behind the painting. He didn’t just look at it and find it’s lack of many colors attractive, he found it so _painful_ how the boy was colored in many shades of blue yet the rest of the world behind him seemed so completely normal.

The way a person could portray sadness despite this boy having a neutral expression and flowers scattered along the background was beyond his capacity.

All Chanyeol knew was that he wanted this painting.

Standing in the auction house he hadn’t a care in the world how high the prices got and constantly raised his flag until he heard his number called and approved as the new owner.

It was a miserable waiting game after that, waiting for everyone to finish up the auction.

Chanyeol had an appointment for a flower shop redesign soon, so the co-owner of his company, Sehun, never stopped pestering him about the time limit that they were pushing. 

They spent the time they had to wait by walking down the street to get lunch in order to kill two birds with one stone. 

About an hour later, the auction house was pretty much uncrowded and Chanyeol was filled with relief that he didn’t have to wait any longer.

He approached the counter with his bidding number and Sehun at his side constantly checking his watch. 

“Park Chanyeol, bidder number 87, for painting number 614,” The man was in a bit of a rush now and quickly pulled out his checkbook. 

“Oh.” The girl behind the counter smiled, “It looks like you owe the auction house about $8,900, and the artist gets the rest of the $50,000, they’re actually wrapping the art up just around the corner. He was adamant it needed to be covered in a very specific manner so it wouldn’t be ruined.” 

“Please take this to the artist, I’ll be there in a second,” Chanyeol instructed, signing his check and passing it to Sehun before politely slipping the other one beneath the glass blocking the auction worker.

She slid a stack of papers to sign out and Chanyeol internally groaned.

This was also part of the reason why he disliked auctions. Too much _paperwork._ It was time consuming.

He didn’t even read them and opted to just flip through seeing as he'd done this before and learned he hated it. They were just the regular forms - _we are not responsible for any damages to the art in transport..._ etc.

With a slight shake of his hand out when he was finished, he promptly shoved the papers back with a murmured _thank you,_ and turned to follow Sehun's footsteps around the corner.

The last thing he expected to see was his friend hugging onto a very _familiar_ man.

The last time he'd seen Byun Baekhyun the man had been a scrawny, glasses-wearing college student that couldn’t hold a conversation for more than a few seconds.

Chanyeol nearly didn’t recognize him seeing as this Baekhyun was so entirely different than the one he could recall, always holding his books to his chest like a shield and shying away each time he said “ _hello, good morning,”_ to him. 

He had a full mullet, it was rather cute but so outdated Chanyeol was taken aback, and it only added to his surprise to see it had bright red in it and a flower tattoo climbing up the side of his neck.

Even his wardrobe style was different. Baekhyun in college used to always walk around in sweaters double his size and hold the long sleeves to his mouth when he was nervous, which was often. But now he was wearing ripped, tight jeans, a shirt with holes in it, and a worn leather jacket. 

Despite all this change, Chanyeol could never forget his cute rectangular smile and the soft features on his face.

He and Baekhyun hadn’t really been friends. They were basically “friends by default” seeing as they ran in the same group. 

Both of their majors were in the art department, although the artist out of both of them was clearly the smaller man, and all of their friends sort of collided together thanks to a certain loudmouth friend both groups shared. 

But that didn’t mean Chanyeol never noticed Baekhyun. In fact, it was really the opposite. His friends used to tease him for his crush on the smaller because it wasn’t like Chanyeol to get nervous trying to speak with someone, but he had been back then, so he never truly said much more than _hello_ and _goodbye_ to Baekhyun. 

He’d always just silently appreciated his cute way of stuttering his way through conversations. But Chanyeol had been so focused on his future career he'd never taken him out since he couldn’t spare the time.

But here Baekhyun was, five years later, giving him the perfect chance to try and kick start something he actually had time for.

C & S Architects had two owners, and seeing as Sehun never stopped telling him, _“You’re older than me and still don’t have anyone,”_ he was sure the younger wouldn’t mind being in charge for a bit. 

“Sehun,” Chanyeol cleared his throat when blue, contact covered eyes flickered to him. Why were they so much more nerve wracking than the chocolate brown he knew Baekhyun had? 

“Chanyeol, look, Baekhyun was the artist!” The younger had no means of personal space and looked just like the young, college freshman they’d taken into the group as he draped himself over Baekhyun’s back, “He said he still talks to Kyungsoo and everyone, how come they never told us! We need to all get together again!” 

Chanyeol had it in him to chuckle and give a nod of agreement as he straightened out the sleeves of his suit.

After graduation they’d all just sort of drifted off to work and become successful, and while in recent years he'd gotten in contact with a few of them like Minseok and Jongdae, who were designers now, it was still nerve wracking approaching old friends after so long. 

He wasn’t as social as Sehun was. 

As if reading his expression, Sehun’s mouth turned into a tight _o_ and he quickly released Baekhyun to approach the painting that had a cloth covering resting on the table, “I’ll take this to the car. It was great seeing you, Baek! I’ll have to call you and catch up soon.” 

Chanyeol felt incredibly awkward. But he shuffled closer once Sehun left to give a dimpled smile. 

Baekhyun looked even prettier up close. He had glitter on the corner of his eyes and dark eyeliner lining his eyes, yet it was adorable how he had a line of red paint on his cheek. 

It was a cute contrast of seemingly caring about looking put together, but also this childlike dismissal for social expectations based on his overall _“strange”_ look. 

“Do you happen to remember me at all?” Chanyeol laughed, “We went to college together. I used to walk you to-“

_“Remember you?”_

Baekhyun’s voice still had a softness to it, and it made Chanyeol’s shoulder relax. 

At least he was relaxed until the smaller was leaning over to poke a paint stained finger into his chest and smirking _very_ unlike the Baekhyun he remembered. “You think I don’t remember you, Chanyeol? 

Chanyeol swallowed hard when abruptly the painter stepped into his space with this smirk that looked all sorts of wrong on his face. 

“How could I forget the first guy that broke my heart? Thanks for the money, _babe._ Later.”

Chanyeol stood in shock as Baekhyun gave a rather fake “friendly” pat to his chest before spinning around to saunter out the door.

He couldn’t remember _ever_ having so much as an important or long conversation with Baekhyun in college.

_So how in the world could Chanyeol have broken his heart?_

***

Chanyeol wasn’t able to immediately get the information out of Sehun about their college years or anything of the sort.

 _But,_ he was able to snag Kyungsoo's number off of him and he and Kyungsoo had been on the phone for the past hour catching up.

Kyungsoo never was one to talk this much, so it was surprising to Chanyeol, but it had been a long time, five years give or take, and they had a lot to say to each other. 

The biggest news Kyungsoo had was that he and Jongin were engaged.

It made Chanyeol laugh so hard because in college Kyungsoo was so hard on the younger man, and always adamantly denied wanting to date him. And now they would be _married._

Chanyeol was so touched when Kyungsoo said he’d been trying to get in contact with him to ask for his address for the wedding invitation, but whenever he called his office line was always busy.

It was a shame they’d all gotten too busy to keep in touch more often, but from what Chanyeol heard it sounded mostly like they’d retreated back almost to their original group of friends.

He, Sehun, Minseok, and Jongdae - while Kyungsoo had Jongin, Baekhyun, Yixing, and Junmyeon. It was basically how they’d been before they entered college all over again.

Of course this time around they didn’t need Jongdae to accidentally spill a coffee on Junmyeon’s textbooks for them all to become friends. 

It was still a wonder to Chanyeol how Jongdae could ruin someone’s $300 textbook and walk out with all of them like they were best friends.

 _“So.”_ Chanyeol heard Kyungsoo laughing at something but quickly the younger was back to the phone, _“I heard you met up with Baekhyun? Or saw him?”_

Chanyeol's brows raised and he glanced away from his computer, “Yea- yes. I mean. Like, not really. He was selling a painting, I bought it.” 

_“He said you paid a whole lot for it.”_

“Well, I think artists should receive proper pay for their work.” 

Kyungsoo snickered, _“Park Chanyeol, you always were a softy.”_

Chanyeol felt his ears turn slightly red and turned his attention to the blueprint he was labeling on his desktop, “Shut up, Jongin is way softer than me and you know it.” 

_“Can't deny that, but at least he isn’t a scaredy cat. I mean I rejected him five times and he still kept asking, you on the other hand never even got rejected and asked once and gave up. You’re a little shit for what you did by the way. I know you were scared of Baek for your big ass crush, but damn, he cried for weeks.”_

“What? What’d you say?” 

_“I said you’re a little bitch-“_

“No,” Chanyeol’s brows pulled together, “Before that, something about I asked him out once? I never asked him out. I never got the nerve to.” 

Kyungsoo chuckled, but it sounded like a sigh, _“Yeol. I saw the texts man, nervous as fuck from all the typos too.”_

Chanyeol really had zero idea what he was talking about and frowned, “Soo, I’m not fucking around, I don’t remember anything. Can you tell me? Like… when I saw Baekhyun, he was really different, and he told me something about breaking his heart? I’m being completely serious right now Kyungsoo, I don’t remember that shit.” 

Kyungsoo must have heard something in his tone that made him realize Chanyeol wasn’t kidding, because he said a quiet, _“Hm, hold on a second. Baekhyun texted me about it the other day.”_ Chanyeol could hear his fingers tapping on his phone screen.

“Holy… what the hell did I do?” Chanyeol felt his face pale and he leaned his forehead onto his palm, “I swear to god I would’ve never hurt him. _Fuck._ You know I was trying to work up the nerve and find time to take him out…” 

_“Okay, um,”_ Kyungsoo began with a weary tone, _“So like, according to Baekhyun he said you asked him out to breakfast, and then the next morning you never showed. He gave me a date too… like, if you want to find the messages or something? Check your phone backup. From what this says… I mean, Chanyeol, Baekhyun was really sweet and shy back then. He was so sensitive. Fuck. I wish you two would have just spoken about this. You’re so much better than that piece of shi- sorry. I’m getting worked up. I need to go take a breather. I’m sure Jongin is going to beg for your number when he gets home from work, so I’ll talk to you then, okay?”_

Chanyeol's lips pressed together in a flat line as his phone vibrated against his ear with a text, “Yeah. Thanks, Kyungsoo.” 

_“And Chanyeol? Baekhyun may seem really different to you, but… he’s put up with a lot of shit, so he’s really not that different, he just pretends to be, so don’t be too hard on him if he’s hard on you. You know with Baek… it’s always better to be gentle with him. He has a sensitive heart.”_

Chanyeol murmured his goodbyes with a downcast tone, but the truth was his heart was racing incredibly fast. 

He truly couldn’t believe what he was learning right now. 

The only thing he could really do was see what the fuck Kyungsoo was talking about, so he opened up his iCloud instantly, hoping that messages were saved. 

In the past the only reason he really messaged Baekhyun was to see if he had any idea where their friends were, or sometimes the smaller would text him asking if classes were canceled or anything like that.

Really, Chanyeol felt like a fucking idiot. How could he not see that they were _both_ walking on a fine line with each other? 

As he scrolled back through the texts he could clearly tell that Baekhyun was trying to carry a conversation, but he was a very shy person and it resonated over the endless _“um okay, how are you?”_ and _“hi, what are you doing today?”_ messages.

Baekhyun was trying, but a hard headed young Chanyeol never saw it for more than small talk and always brought up school because he felt that’s what Baekhyun wanted.

Yet as soon as he found texts that weren’t just _hi_ or _bye_ he knew he’d fucked up because he was drunk as _fuck._

It was clear in the awkward extra spaces in his texts and the misspelling of words.

Chanyeol had _always_ been the kind of texter that wrote things out appropriately, because to him things just looked better like that, and these were so _not_ him.

**_Thurs 06/02/2015 11:48 PM_ **

**Byun Baekhyun:** do you happen to have an extra historical art textbook? I lost mine and Xing said you took it last semester I know it’s late so I’m sorry for texting

 **Park Chanyeol:** Baekhhyun helo I do have it yes

 **Park Chanyeol:** I can give it to u Tomorrow

 **Park Chanyeol:** But! W e should meet at the cofee shop I will buy you beeakfast 

**Byun Baekhyun:** oh… hi, I wasn’t expecting you to text back so fast

 **Byun Baekhyun:** um, what time? Like just quickly before classes? Usually Jongdae walks me to class, is he coming or… just us? 🙈

 **Park Chanyeol:** jus us!!! Us!! You an me!!! At 9! I’l pick u up, k? Don't dress to nice or my heart Can’t take it

**Byun Baekhyun: 😳😳😳😳😳**

**Byun Baekhyun:** um

 **Byun Baekhyun:** that’s so nice of you to say. Thank you. 

**Byun Baekhyun:** you must have fallen asleep, have a good night 😊 bye

**_Fri 06/03/2015 10:13 AM_ **

**Byun Baekhyun:** hi

 **Byun Baekhyun:** I’m getting a textbook from the library, don’t worry about it.

**_Fri 06/03/2015 5:13 PM_ **

**Byun Baekhyun:** Minseok said that you were really drunk last night, I’m really sorry for bothering you

**Mon 06/06/2015 11:17 AM**

**Park Chanyeol:** Hey, have you seen Sehun at all today? 

**Byun Baekhyun:** hi. no. Sorry. 

**Park Chanyeol:** That’s okay, are you busy today? My classes got out early, want to go for lunch with me, Kyungsoo, and Yixing?

 **Byun Baekhyun:** I’m busy today.

Chanyeol groaned as loud as possible. He couldn’t exactly remember what happened or what went down, but as he looked through the other texts from around that time he saw that his phone had been so full of messages the chances were he'd just never gotten around to looking back at them.

Chanyeol was officially the king of all idiots.

 _Fuck._ How the hell was he supposed to make up for a five year old mistake? 

***

After nearly a week of wishing he could smack his head against any nearby hard surface, Chanyeol got Baekhyun’s address.

For some reason Kyungsoo gave him an address instead of a phone number when that’s all Chanyeol had asked for, but when he asked why Kyungsoo just said, _“Hey, don’t be a bitch.”_

But Chanyeol was sort of seeing _why_ Kyungsoo told him not to call.

Not only did he pull up in front of an area of town with boarded up windows, but he pulled up in a couple arguing right in front of one of the small, worn down houses.

Chanyeol wasn’t one to assume anything about anything, he didn’t like to assume the worst in people especially.

But there wasn’t much to mistake about what was going on here.

 _Especially_ considering the sly comments Kyungsoo had slipped into conversations regarding Baekhyun.

Chanyeol couldn’t really mistake the fact that Baekhyun was barefoot on the sidewalk, glasses sitting on his nose and decked out in sweatpants and a paint stained shirt three times his size, his front door open behind him and he was screaming in another man's face. 

Kyungsoo wouldn’t have sent him here when Baekhyun had a boyfriend, _right?_ He knew how huge of a crush Chanyeol had on Baekhyun in the past. 

Baekhyun just looked so incredibly small right now, it was only ten in the morning and he looked like he just woke up and was putting up with some bullshit. 

Chanyeol was parked directly across the street, tapping his thumb on the steering wheel and wondering what he should do when there was a loud yell.

_“I told you I wouldn’t put up with your shit anymore, Taesan! Get the fuck out of here! You’re a fuc-“_

And when it was cut off Chanyeol was unlocking his door as fast as possible, because he wasn’t about to just sit here and ignore Baekhyun getting roughed up - probably what all the neighbors did.

The other man had Baekhyun’s jaw in one hand, and that wouldn’t have seemed so bad if the grip hadn't looked so tight and if Baekhyun’s wrist wasn’t caught in the man's hand so harshly that the smaller man's skin around Taesan’s palm was turning white. 

“I told you it was an accident. When have I ever hurt you other than that? Chill out, sugar. You’re being loud and obnoxious, _again._ Didn’t I tell you to watch your mouth?” 

_“Hey!”_ Chanyeol's mouth was turned into a full scowl as he rushed across the street, “What the fuck are you doing? Let go of him, asshole!” 

Taesan turned to him with a scoff, releasing Baekhyun’s arm but laying a hand on his shoulder in a move Chanyeol attributed to someone telling their dog to _stay close_ to their owner.

A sign of possession. 

“Do I know you? Mind your own goddamn business, fucker.” 

Chanyeol was not a man of confrontation. He hadn’t been in a fight his entire life, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to just stand here and let someone rough up someone much smaller than them.

Especially not considering he knew Baekhyun - or he once knew him - and the Baekhyun he knew would have _never_ gotten himself caught up in a fight, let alone talk to someone without blushing or stuttering.

Chanyeol wondered if Kyungsoo might be wrong, Baekhyun seemed _very_ different. 

“I know him, Taesan, get the fuck off me,” Baekhyun hissed and shoved at the man until he was forced to remove his hand, then he took a step closer to Chanyeol, crossing his arms over his chest defensively. “I invited him. You on the other hand weren’t invited. I told you I was done with you.” 

“Done?” The other snickered, “Please. You’ll come crawling back as soon as your ass is poor again. Money doesn't make you anything, you’ll come begging to be my bitch again as soon as you blow it all like last time. Your little paintings won’t pay the bills, candy cane.” 

“Oh fuck _off.”_

Chanyeol noticed Baekhyun took the slightest step closer to him after saying such a thing and couldn’t help but to place a shoulder in front of him, “Look,” He tried to placate, “He wants you to go, he wants me to stay, that’s how it is, man. You should go.” 

Taesan looked at him like he wanted to knock his teeth right out of his face, but Chanyeol was raising his chin and showing off the good few inches he had on him. Not to mention that Chanyeol was rather larger than him in size.

Just because he'd never fought someone before didn’t mean he wasn’t willing to.

“He’s a filthy whore anyway,” Taesan spat before tilting his head down and spitting on the sidewalk right in between them. 

Chanyeol had never felt so disgusted yet challenged in his _life,_ and he didn’t even know what he was feeling challenged over.

Baekhyun was no toy, and it was rather clear he wanted nothing to do with this man. 

So there was no _competition._

Chanyeol grimaced and turned up his nose in disgust as Baekhyun released a shaky breath when Taesan turned to point a finger at him, “Don't let me find you around here again, bitch.” 

Luckily, Taesan didn’t lunge out at either of them no matter how much it seemed he wanted to. He spun around and hit Baekhyun’s mailbox so hard it bent in on his way down the street. 

It must have not been the first time something like that happened because it had little indents in the metal in ways, and all Baekhyun did was sigh before turning to climb up his steps to his house. 

“Well?” Baekhyun prompted, shoving his door open and pointing a finger inside, “You can come in. You needed something, right? Why else are you here?”

Chanyeol felt a disagreement crawl up his throat because he wasn’t here to get something from Baekhyun, he was just trying to make peace, but it would be a lie if he said he didn’t hope for more.

Truthfully, now he was just concerned because Baekhyun was trotting into the house like nothing ever happened.

“Baekhyun…” Chanyeol began, shutting the door behind himself only to notice the entire door had wood chipping off and holes in the paint, like something at one time or another had hit it really hard.

He could only imagine what. 

“Don't start that shit up,” Baekhyun demanded from a small kitchen right across the way, “You saw nothing. I get enough of that tone from Kyungsoo. I’m good. Don't say anything else. Now do you still like sugar and cream or not?” 

The tone he was referring to was _concern,_ but Chanyeol chose not to point it out and instead eyed all the boxes around the small living room as he replied, “Both. Your memory is good.” 

“Five years isn't that long.” 

“Only longer than our college years,” Chanyeol snorted as he wandered over to an easel set up in the corner of the room. 

It didn’t have anything on it yet, just a rough outline in pencil of a bouquet, but nothing else.

“You moving?”

“I got a studio in a better area. I’m really not a fan of waking up to glass breaking all the time here, I’ve been robbed about three times. Thanks for the money, by the way, helped a lot. Take a seat… sorry about the furniture missing, Jongin took it over for me already.” 

Chanyeol quickly moved to take a seat on the rickety wooden floors across from Baekhyun to accept his coffee in both hands.

“It’s okay.” He shrugged, “And don’t stress, I really loved that painting, it’s hanging in my office at home. You’re an amazing artist.” 

Baekhyun hummed and leaned back onto his palms, looking less of some makeshift version of Baekhyun and more of the Baekhyun Chanyeol remembered as he nervously puffed air through his cheeks and looked at Chanyeol’s clothes rather than at him. “Thank you.” 

“Really,” Chanyeol had a slight quirk in his brow because nothing about Baekhyun's expression seemed like he even got an ounce of pride out of being complimented for his work. Like he brushed it away immediately. “Your work is beautiful. I might have to bug you for some other stuff, are you doing commissions?” 

“Well,” Baekhyun shrugged a little bit, “Here and there…” He sat up to mess with the end of his sweatpants with his head low, “People don’t really appreciate art like they used to, so it’s really hard to get work.” 

Chanyeol shifted to put his coffee onto the floor and watched Baekhyun nervously scratch the back of his neck only for his shirt to slip down the slightest bit.

There was a big, speckled bruise along the back of his shoulder and Chanyeol found himself reaching over before he knew it, “Baekhyu-“

_“Don't.”_

There was a warning in the smaller’s eyes as he grabbed Chanyeol’s hand before it brushed his shoulder, other hand reaching over to tug his shirt back up.

After a moment Baekhyun’s eyes shook a bit, the intensity of his warning glare simmering as he released a nearly silent sigh and dropped his hand. 

_“I’m okay.”_ He whispered, sending Chanyeol a look that the taller could only interpret as begging. 

_Please don’t say something,_ it said. 

And that was _that._ Baekhyun shifted to stand up and walk back over to the kitchen, pointedly avoiding stepping on certain floorboards that stuck out and threatened to send splinters into his feet. 

Chanyeol looked down at his coffee and pressed his lips together with restraint. 

Who was he to say _anything_ to Baekhyun when he’d treated him like shit? 

But at the same time, wasn’t this what people in that sort of situation wanted? They wanted people to not bring it up, Baekhyun sure as hell didn’t want Chanyeol to talk about it, and from his comments Chanyeol could only guess Kyungsoo rarely had a chance to either.

Chanyeol sighed and scratched the inside of his wrist before lifting his head up with a clear of his throat, “I like your tattoo,” He said quietly, “That flower is beautiful.” 

For the first time in the past few minutes a smile spread across Baekhyun’s face as he held his own cup under his chin, “Thank you, I designed it. I have a few others too…” 

“Me too,” Chanyeol smiled, “Of course mine weren’t designed by this genius artist, so they aren’t nearly as pretty, but I like them.” 

“Oh?” A slightly teasing smile spread across Baekhyun’s face, “I’ll have to see them sometime and be the judge of that.” 

Chanyeol began to chuckle with surprise, because he never thought it possible that he’d _ever_ hear something that sounded flirtatious come from Baekhyun’s mouth. 

At the same time, he never really got a chance to see the playful side of Baekhyun, and that was his own _stupid_ fault.

“Baekhyun…” Chanyeol began, digging in his coat pocket, “I need to show you something.” 

The smaller’s brows shot up with interest and he quickly placed his drink down in favor of walking back into the room, “What is it?” 

Chanyeol felt his ears turn bright red because he was so embarrassed as he pulled a folded paper out of his pocket. He felt stupid, but he had to bring proof to back up his statements. 

So he'd screenshotted the old messages on his computer and printed them out. Now that he was giving them over he felt like an idiot, but at the time he was panicking and not sure how to explain himself.

Kyungsoo was right, he was a really gentle person, so the thought that he’d hurt Baekhyun and that it seemed _intentional_ made him overflow with guilt.

“I was really drunk,” He cleared his throat, “You can see here that I couldn’t even type, and I was hungover… so I must have just missed the older texts, I really didn’t mean it… _god… I..”_

Chanyeol swallowed and glanced up to meet confused, yet interested eyes when Baekhyun glanced up from the paper to look at him. 

Baekhyun was upset, he could see as much, and considering the atmosphere the smaller was surrounded with now Chanyeol understood that he couldn’t just walk back into his life and expect him to trust him. 

But after five years he _still_ wanted a chance with Byun Baekhyun and that had to mean something. 

If it didn’t mean anything and if Baekhyun didn’t feel the same way, then Chanyeol was pretty sure Kyungsoo would have never sent him here.

“I would have killed for a date with you back then,” Chanyeol admitted, feeling ridiculous that he was an adult yet blushed over confessing, “And I would still kill for a date with you, not now… obviously. But when you’re ready.” 

Baekhyun’s lips pressed together in a flat, emotionless line, yet behind his glasses Chanyeol could see his eyes flickering around in thought before Baekhyun passed the paper back and crossed his arms. 

_“You’re serious?”_ Baekhyun asked with such a soft, quiet tone Chanyeol saw the shy, nerdy looking brunette he was in college, always hiding behind Junmyeon and mostly fiddling at get-togethers.

“I’m serious. I’m…” Chanyeol chuckled and shook his head, “Baek, can’t you tell I’m serious? What do you want me to say to make things right?”

“You’re not just desperate.” Baekhyun commented, both a question and a statement, as if he was talking to himself, “You actually want to take me out? Not because you’re desperate?”

Chanyeol frowned, “Why would I have to be desperate to want to take you out?” 

It seemed to be a line too far for Baekhyun to cross and answer, so he just crossed his arms tighter. 

Chanyeol recognized it was likely a question with an answer too personal for him to want to tell him, so he just placed a smile on his face and shook his head, “Nevermind. Okay, but I have an idea.” 

_“Okay.”_ Baekhyun prompted, placing a hand onto his chin as he listened.

“How about…” Chanyeol looked around a bit in thought before looking back at him, “How about I help you take the rest of your things to your new place? And then maybe… if it’s cool with you we can make plans to catch up next week? I mean, this is a lot of boxes, and I didn’t see a car outside so I’m just assuming you might need help and-“

 _“Chanyeol._ You’re ranting.” 

When Chanyeol looked back at him he found amusement swimming around the smaller’s eyes and Baekhyun had a teasing grin sitting on his lips. 

“Sorry.” 

Baekhyun began to giggle, “Let me put shoes on and then we can load up the car.” 

***

Baekhyun was really funny, but he did have a few quirks he'd had five years ago too.

Like the way he fiddled with anything and everything in his hands, or how he tended to tuck his legs close when he was sitting for extended periods, and he still got these wide, doe eyes when he ate something he really liked.

Last week Chanyeol hadn’t spent all that much time with him, at least not time spent catching up or anything, most of it had been Baekhyun teasing him for _“not being scrawny anymore,”_ as per the smaller's own words. 

The trip moving stuff to his new studio had basically been Chanyeol’s ears bright red and Baekhyun only making it worse by whistling when he'd picked up boxes for him and carried them upstairs to the studio apartment. 

Baekhyun was funny, but he had to be in the mood for it.

Today when Chanyeol picked him up he could tell right away Baekhyun wasn’t in the best of moods.

He wasn’t talking much, he was fiddling with his sandwich more so than eating it, and kept his eyes down more than anything.

They must have looked like an odd pair seeing as Baekhyun had his head of red and black colored, striped hair, and was decked out in a bright orange sweatshirt with paint smears on the sleeves. And Chanyeol was dressed head to toe in his work outfit which consisted of a blue button down, slacks, and leather shoes complete with a Rolex on his wrist.

The waiters at the diner kept looking their way, so he knew they looked odd, but he’d just gotten off work so he didn’t care a few odd looks since Baekhyun had agreed to eat with him in the first place. 

“Baekhyun,” Chanyeol leaned over the table to gently nudge his fork seeing as Baekhyun had been staring off into space for a few minutes. “Hey? Do you not feel well?” 

The smaller snapped out of it with a soft gasp and shook his head, “Oh god, I’m sorry, I’m sorry I just-“ He looked somewhat panicked and reached across the table for the salt with quick, jerky actions only to knock over the salt and pepper shakers and ketchup bottle. “Oh _fuck. I’m so sorry,”_ Baekhyun groaned and tossed his hands over his face.

Chanyeol instantly picked up the things, it wasn’t a big deal, it wasn’t even a huge mess, and when he looked at Baekhyun, his eyes wide with concern, found that Baekhyun’s sleeves slipped all the way down his wrists and revealed both of his knuckles and hands were bruised up and scabbing over. 

“Holy _shit,”_ Chanyeol got out under his breath before he was reaching over the table, “Baekhyun, what the- did your boyfriend do this?” 

It took the smaller a few seconds to even process what he'd noticed, but when he did Baekhyun’s face pulled into the fakest looking scowl Chanyeol had ever seen and he yanked back his hands to tug sleeves down over him. “I have no boyfriend. _Ex_ boyfriend.” 

Chanyeol was overlooking the fact that it hurt when Baekhyun pulled his hands away from him like that in favor of more important things - like the fact Baekhyun’s hands looked like he’d fought someone five minutes ago, it was all broken knuckles and bright red scabs.

“Baekhyun,” Chanyeol said softly, “I’m sorry. Ex-boyfriend.” He agreed as he pulled his hands back towards himself. 

Baekhyun gave a stiff, defensive looking nod before he was laying his elbow on the table and going back to messing with his plate.

Chanyeol didn’t know what to say to someone in this situation. He had never gotten in a fight with an ex and physically hurt them, and it didn’t really matter to him whether Baekhyun was the one who had started a fight; from the encounter he'd had with his ex, he knew Taesan pushed him _really_ hard.

And he _knew_ Baekhyun. Baekhyun was gentle and would never hurt anyone. 

It didn’t matter to him that Baekhyun tried so hard to be very different now, it was clear Baekhyun felt like he _needed_ to put this facade on. 

It was clear Baekhyun had to build up tough skin. 

“Do you want to talk about it?” 

Chanyeol winced as soon as the question was out of his mouth. He shouldn’t have said anything. Last week Baekhyun told him not to and he _did._ Now he was sure Baekhyun was probably never going to go out with him again… 

“It’s just frustrating, you know?” Baekhyun clicked his tongue and laid his head against his palm, sleeve pulled all the way up his fingers, “I said _come get your shit,_ I didn't say _come start a fight._ I know I should’ve just thrown it away. All his shit was trash. _He_ was trash. God, this is what I get for being nice, right? You get walked right over if you’re nice to people.” 

“For the record,” Chanyeol shifted in place nervously, because he was walking on a narrow line and knew it, “You don’t deserve that. I mean, I don’t know anything, but you’re really kind, Baek. I don’t know how you got mixed up with someone like that.” 

“Being too _naive.”_ Baekhyun answered dryly, “I needed money, he had money. I wanted a boyfriend, he wanted someone to yell at. _Win win.”_

Chanyeol swallowed and was scared that if he didn’t reply that Baekhyun would take it as him not caring, but he didn’t really know what to say.

Baekhyun didn’t want to talk last week, and he wasn’t saying much _now,_ but it was more than previously. 

“How long were you together?” 

“Three years.” Baekhyun looked up from his plate, leaning back against his side of the booth before he sighed and began to rub his eyes. “Fuck, I’m so sorry. We aren’t here to talk about my baggage, I understand if you don’t want to see me anymore. Kyungsoo says I’m not different now, but I know he’s lying. I’m sorry I’m not what you remember, Chanyeol. I’m really… complicated.”

 _“What?”_ Chanyeol frowned and shook his head quickly, “No. I don’t mind. I _really_ don’t mind, Baekhyun. It’s been five years, I didn’t expect you to be exactly the same and that’s okay. I still… I still think you’re interesting.” 

_“Interesting..”_ Baekhyun snickered, but his eyes looked less upset, “That’s a funny word. Tell me, Chanyeol, why exactly was I interesting back then? Sure, now it’s the tattoos and weird hair that grandmas stare at, but I tripped over my feet in college.” 

Chanyeol began to laugh because Baekhyun covered his lips with his sweater when he began to giggle at himself just like he did back then.

“Oh it was definitely the stuttering that got me,” Chanyeol teased, “Oh, and the puppy eyes when someone called you out for your opinion. Got me good. My heart rate went soaring sky high...” 

Baekhyun’s entire body rocked with laughter as he leaned over to hide his face on the table. His ears were as red as the color in his hair and he whined.

“Really, I’m not kidding!” Chanyeol continued, “And that time you accidentally stepped on my foot and looked like you committed a crime, so cute. You’re so cute.” 

The smaller laughed for a bit longer before he was sitting back and fanning his eyes, cheeks blazing red, “My contacts! They’re going to come out thanks to you.” 

“It’s okay, I think you’re gorgeous in glasses too.” 

Baekhyun whined and placed hands over his cheeks. “Ah, I’m going to pass out…”

Chanyeol laughed, but he could see how overwhelmed Baekhyun actually was with all the compliments and teasing. It made him a bit upset because Baekhyun was incredibly sweet and should have been told he was just adorable all the time.

“Let me get us boxes and pay, I’ll be back.” He commented as he climbed out of the booth.

 _“Take a long time so I can breathe!”_ Baekhyun cried back and made Chanyeol’s dimples pop out on his cheeks.

How had he gone five years without contacting Baekhyun? Really, he felt like a complete dick.

When he'd gotten back in contact with Minseok and Jongdae, they’d both scolded his ears off for just walking out on everything, but Chanyeol was the only one out of all of them that had such a pressing job lined up right after graduation.

At college he interned at a smaller building design firm, so they let him have a job right from graduation. But Chanyeol had experience given his father owned what was now C & S Architects, so after a couple of years working independently, his father signed the company over when Chanyeol proved himself capable of running the place.

His family had just rubbed off on him that work was more important, and friendship came second.

Chanyeol wished he hadn’t listened because he’d been stuck in the deepest depression of his life before Sehun graduated and came to join him.

_“Have a good day, sir.”_

Chanyeol snapped out of his thoughts with wide eyes to smile and accept his card from the worker and the food boxes, quickly rushing back to the table because he wasn’t sure how long he’d been only to see Baekhyun typing rapidly on his phone.

“Everything okay?” Chanyeol worried as he began to collect their things.

Baekhyun jolted, looking up just to put his phone down on the table quickly and comb his hair behind his ear, “Sorry, it’s rude to text on dates, I know, but the group chat we have has been blowing me up.” 

“Oh a group chat? We should make a big one with everyone again,” Chanyeol shrugged slightly, “Jongdae still sends ugly selfies and Sehun blocks and unblocks him every week for it.” 

Baekhyun giggled and nodded, “I’ll have to tell them to do it. I haven’t talked to Minseok in a long while, how is he?” 

“He’s good. He actually designed some backpacks and they’re selling incredibly well. I have a couple at my place, I’ll have to swing by and drop off a couple for you. He was so excited when they launched he went overboard with giving them away. Plus, I may have gotten a few or two, it doesn’t hurt to help friends out a bit. But don’t tell him I said that or he’ll throw a fit.” 

“Ah, his pride is too big for a rich man's help.” 

“It’s gotten so bad, Baek. Lemme tell you I used to think Dae was the most prideful, but Minseok is really pushing it.” 

Baekhyun bit his lip and laughed a small bit before his eyes took in their empty table and he was shifting towards the opening to the booth, “I’m just going to go to the restroom and then we can go, is that okay?” 

“Running away from me?” Chanyeol teased as he leaned over the table to snag his drink.

“Always,” Baekhyun snorted and climbed to his feet.

Chanyeol thought it was really cute the way the longer part of his hair was somewhat covering his tattoo and the way Baekhyun’s steps seemed so heavy due to the huge boots he was wearing.

Baekhyun was just really _cute._ Chanyeol didn’t know how many times that exact thought had run through his mind tonight.

With a small smile Chanyeol began to shove their boxes into the plastic bag he'd been given when the table began to shake with the intensity of Baekhyun’s phone vibrating.

He wasn’t snooping! Really, his eyes just _happened_ to rush over a few messages! 

**Soo 🐧:** Don't be like that, I’m sure he wants to spend more time with you also, babe 

**Nini 🐻:** how come you call him babe and not me

 **Soo 🐧:** Shut up and get back to work

 **Jun** 🐰 **:** Baekhyun! If you don’t tell him you want to hangout more, then he’s just going to drop you off and then you’re going to be sad AGAIN! 

**Xing 🐈:** Chanyeol???? Upset w u???? What world are we living in??? Yeol once let Jongin get away w smacking him w a book and wasn’t upset. I don’t think he’s capable of being upset w u Baek 

**Nini 🐻:** IT WAS AN ACCIDENT AN ACCIDENT I TELL YOU

 **Soo 🐧 :** Chanyeol is heart eyes for you trust me 

“You ready to go?” 

Chanyeol startled like he’d been caught doing something bad although it truly was just impossible to ignore the phone lighting up with every message.

“Yeah, let’s go.” Chanyeol agreed and climbed to his feet before he bit the inside of his cheek and added, “You know what, there’s a candy shop down the street, do you want to see if it's still open this late?” 

Baekhyun looked up at him with a smile that made his cheeks look so round and plump as he clutched his phone below his chin. “Yes,” He sounded a bit breathy. “Yes. I would like that, Chanyeol.” 

***

Chanyeol decided to take Baekhyun somewhere better. Somewhere that they could consider their first actual date rather than a place chosen last minute due to it being late.

He took him to a private museum opening. 

He’d been invited because he was the one who’d designed the building to begin with, so they were having a large grand opening.

“You really designed this?” Baekhyun gawked, latched onto his arm, “No way.” 

“You think I’m a liar?” Chanyeol laughed, wrapping an arm around Baekhyun’s shoulders to gently steer him away from the main area of the venue. 

It was an open area with a ceiling so high that the second story had to be half as many square feet as the first, but it was worth it seeing as in the center of the sky high ceiling was a marble sculpture of the tree of life.

Chanyeol wasn’t as big on sculptures as he was on paintings, but it fit gorgeously with the room full of windows to allow in as much natural light as possible. 

Baekhyun turned to look at him with a small smile and Chanyeol hadn’t realized why he was suddenly giving him such a look until the smaller was reaching up to grasp the hand that hung off his shoulder. 

“Well, I’m only saying I’m impressed, that's all,” Baekhyun muttered, looking away as if he wasn’t suddenly holding his hand and taking a sip of the white wine in his opposite palm.

Chanyeol smiled, eyeing his profile before he brushed his thumb gently over Baekhyun’s healing knuckle, “Come on, I want to show you something even better.” 

Baekhyun’s face lit up and he quickly placed his glass on a table as they walked past before hurrying to keep up with Chanyeol’s long legs.

The staircase was a bit hidden in this place, likely because the museum area was downstairs and the upper parts were mostly for storage, but Chanyeol found them quickly.

“Are we allowed up here?” Baekhyun whispered as he slipped into the narrow staircase while Chanyeol shut the door behind them.

“Hey, there was no sign.” 

“I think there was.” 

“Okay, well if anyone asks then I can’t read and went wandering off so you came to find me.” 

Baekhyun snickered and turned to him when Chanyeol laid a hand on his spine at the top of the stairs to lead him around. 

Chanyeol had been thinking of this design he'd done for a long time, ever since he’d wrote this plan up and sent it to Sehun to double check he'd been somewhat obsessed with it.

Rounded edges were in these days - whether it be in rooms or doorways, it was becoming pretty common, but Chanyeol had never designed a balcony to have a rounded doorway before.

“That looks _so_ cool.” Baekhyun stated, releasing a surprised noise and approaching the glass sliding door. “I’ve never seen anything like this.” 

“I guess you aren’t the only one who can be original,” Chanyeol joked, bypassing him to slide open the door.

Baekhyun cackled to himself at the comment and rolled his eyes, “Hey, I never said architects weren’t original.” 

“No, but in the car you said, _how is building houses fun.”_

“Hey! It was a real question! I wasn’t making fun of you!” 

“Ah, but it _hurt.”_ Chanyeol poured dramatically and laid his forearms against the railing of the balcony. “I take you out and all I get is _pain.”_

Baekhyun cried aloud and turned to deliver a smack to his shoulder, one that made Chanyeol roar with laughter and catch his hand the second time he tried to playfully smack him. 

“You are _dramatic!”_ Baekhyun hissed, puffing his cheeks out and leaning into his shoulder with his eyes taking in the view. “Big baby.” 

Chanyeol just smiled, squeezing his hand once before letting it go in favor of leaning on the metal railing with Baekhyun’s warm pressure at his side. 

“I really love the stars.” Chanyeol stated after a moment of looking up at them, “If I didn’t continue the family business I would have wanted to be an astronomer, I’m going to get a tattoo of the stars one day. I just haven’t figured out the design yet.” 

He felt Baekhyun’s eyes burning into the side of his face. “Why didn’t you then, if you love them so much?” 

Chanyeol shrugged a bit and placed his chin onto his palm, “I don’t know, I was always told money was more important. I had a job if I did architecture and I had to start from scratch if I did astronomy. I like architecture now, don’t get me wrong, but… you know, it would have been nice to forever study the stars or planets.”

“So…” Baekhyun grabbed the railing, head turned to the side to stare up at his profile, “You decided not to because the chances of making money from studying the stars were low?” 

“Sometimes people just have to make hard choices. My parents kind of made mine for me, but I grew to like it.” 

“I sort of wish my parents did that for me,” Baekhyun mumbled, “I was always told that I could do anything I wanted. _Be_ anything I wanted. And then… that’s how I got caught up in so many bad things I guess. I had unrealistic dreams. I thought I would come out of school and be a famous painter, as if things happen that easily. Then I learned my stuff was just… _average._ I’m just average. Wish I would have chosen something better for my future. I was just lucky you found my work _interesting_ for some reason.” 

Chanyeol frowned and turned to look at him with disagreement all over his face, “You're not average. Isn’t that the beauty of art? Every single work is always different. No one thing can be replicated, not even the original artist can guarantee things will be exactly the same if they remake something. I think… it’s really beautiful. No one thing you make will ever be the same even if you intend it to be. Your art is really beautiful, Baekhyun.” 

Baekhyun shifted on his feet, lip between his teeth and glancing at him once before back out at the stars, “You're really nice to me. That’s really nice of you to say.” 

“I’m being serious,” Chanyeol murmured as he slid a bit closer, shoulder pressing into Baekhyun’s a bit harder, “Your work is really amazing, Baek. I can tell a lot of heart goes into it, and that’s really important to me when I see artwork. I want to be able to feel it.” 

The smaller side eyed him for a moment before he leaned closer so his head rested very lightly against Chanyeol's shoulder. “You’re really good with words. I’m really bad with them.” 

Chanyeol's nose scrunched up a bit as he laughed and discreetly laid his palm around Baekhyun’s waist, fingers curling around the side of his ribs. “I’m not that good with words, only when I know what I’m talking about.” 

“Tell me something else you know then.” 

“You’re really beautiful.” Chanyeol stared at Baekhyun’s profile for a moment, waiting for the moment the smaller processed what he said.

When Baekhyun did, he turned to look at him with his lips parted in a speechless way and he raised a hand to nervously tuck hair out of his eye.

Tonight Baekhyun’s usual “strange” wardrobe was toned down quite a lot. Chanyeol hadn’t expected him to do so, truly he liked Baekhyun no matter what he wore, but he couldn’t deny how handsome he looked in something so simple as a tight black turtle back and tan slacks.

The artist had a slight quirk to his wardrobe in the form of his signature heavy black boots, yet they somehow looked incredibly fitting with the rest of his outfit.

At this point, Chanyeol would have still taken him to this private event even if he showed up in some outlandish outfit, because Baekhyun just always looked gorgeous. 

_“Really,”_ Chanyeol emphasized, “Beautiful.” 

Baekhyun pressed his lips together and his eyes flickered down to Chanyeol’s mouth, hand coming to curl into his champagne colored sleeve, “Thank you.” He whispered softly.

Chanyeol swallowed down the bubble building in his throat and lifted his palm up to brush his fingertips over his cheek before he was cupping his face. “I really love looking at the stars, but I could look at you for a very long time and never get bored.” 

He saw Baekhyun’s eyes still linger on his own and the elder leaned closer the smallest bit.

It seemed like the right time, so Chanyeol brushed his thumb gently over his cheek before leaning in.

 _“I-“_ Baekhyun's hand came to curl around his wrist that held his cheek, _“I’m not ready.”_ He met Chanyeol’s eyes with a pleading yet scared look, as if he'd upset him. _“I’m sorry.”_

“Don't be,” Chanyeol's brows pulled together a bit and he raised his head to instead tug Baekhyun into a hug, “It’s okay.” 

“I’m sorry.” Baekhyun repeated, sounding even more devastated as he pressed his cheek into Chanyeol's chest and grabbed his waist, “I’m so sorry. It’s not you.” 

“I know, don't feel bad. Really, it’s okay.” He responded, combing fingers through Baekhyun’s hair. 

Chanyeol sighed when he felt Baekhyun dig his face into his chest harder, he hugged him tighter and pet fingers down the side of his head, “I don’t want you to feel bad, okay? I promise you did nothing wrong. You aren’t comfortable kissing me right now, and that's okay. I understand.” 

“I didn’t ruin the night?” 

“You didn't,” Chanyeol laughed softly and shook his head, pulling him away just a bit to look at him, “We have a long night ahead of us and you didn’t ruin a thing.” 

Baekhyun placed a rather cute, nervous smile on his face before stepping away and leaning on the railing again. “Can we just watch the stars again?”

“We can do whatever you want, baby.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going to wait until the end of this month (end of my break) to get this out but let’s be honest, we’re all going into a sad state at the end of this month 😞


	2. Chapter 2

“You know, you don’t need to keep taking me to these expensive places.” Baekhyun stated abruptly, shifting in his spot across the table from Chanyeol. 

Chanyeol's brows raised and he quickly chewed up the bite of steak that was in his mouth to reach across the table and pour Baekhyun another glass of wine. 

“Like,” Baekhyun shrugged, “It feels…  _ weird.”  _

“Weird how, baby?” The younger laughed and laid his chin on his palm to simply watch him.

Baekhyun shrunk down in his seat a bit and took his fork to push around the tiny piece of potato that had been given to him. 

Personally, Chanyeol wasn't much of a fan of these nice, fancy restaurants either, but he thought it was a cute idea. 

He thought Baekhyun deserved to be properly taken out, and considering they’d been dating in their spare time he didn’t feel a fancy place was that big of a step in their relationship.

Plus, Baekhyun looked really gorgeous with the chandelier overhead reflecting off of his face, and he'd awed at the table set up when they’d first arrived, Baekhyun seemed to enjoy it until now.

“Nevermind, I’m being awkward again.” 

Chanyeol sighed and internally frowned, but he wouldn’t show it. 

It just felt like everytime he was getting Baekhyun to open up a bit the elder just closed up twice as tight. 

Chanyeol knew he was scared, that much was obvious. Sometimes in the car when they brushed their hands together Baekhyun was quick to say an “ _ I’m sorry,”  _ like their hands touching was offensive or something. And Baekhyun always did this wide eyed, fearful look when he said something he wasn’t sure Chanyeol was going to take well.

Chanyeol knew he had to recover, but he knew Baekhyun was strong and he wouldn’t let his ex have a hold on him forever. 

The best thing to do was to prove he hadn’t been damaged right? That’s what abusers liked; they liked to know they hurt their significant other. 

And Baekhyun… he hurt so  _ much.  _

He didn’t say it. He never really said much about his emotions, but he didn’t need to for Chanyeol to notice how shifty and nervous his eyes got when he was complimented, especially for his artwork.

And all of the art Chanyeol had seen him working on lately just felt so  _ sad.  _ Baekhyun didn’t talk about things, but he did show them to Chanyeol, and it really was more of a cry for help than if he'd verbally say as much. 

Just knowing Baekhyun didn’t think he was a good artist, or that he felt he couldn’t actually approach him and speak about things was painful, but Chanyeol had to take what Baekhyun was willing to give and couldn’t press too hard or he was no better than anyone else Baekhyun knew.

“Come on.” Chanyeol said suddenly, removing the napkin from his lap to toss onto his plate. 

“W-What?” Baekhyun blinked up at him, beginning to shake his head immediately and quickly grabbing his fork, “No. No, it’s okay. I’m sorry, I just… I didn’t know what I was saying. I really like it.” 

Chanyeol internally sighed because he wanted to say more than he should, but on the outside he had a bright smile as he peeled Baekhyun’s hand off the table and gave it a soft squeeze. “Come on. Let’s go get some burgers.” 

“Oh, but…” 

“It’s fine, Baek.” Chanyeol chuckled and pet a hand over his head, “We would have had to get food on the way home anyway, they must think we’re birds or something considering how little food they gave us.” 

Baekhyun’s lips pulled up as he released a breathy, nervous sounding laugh and jumped out of his spot. He grabbed his coat from the back of the chair before holding Chanyeol’s hand tighter. “I would kill for a burger right now.” 

Chanyeol smiled way too fondly as Baekhyun looked away at the speed of light to push open the door, but the taller was feeling  _ much  _ too endeared to just let him run off that fast.

“Wait up, wait…” Chanyeol requested, tugging Baekhyun off to the side just outside the restaurant.

It was really dark this late, slightly cloudy out and chilly, so Baekhyun’s nose was turning pink the longer they stood out here. It was adorable the way he'd instantly gotten a little red nose stepping into the cold.

“Ah… you're embarrassing when you do this.” Baekhyun complained when Chanyeol cupped his face, a small pout on his face as he was pressed against the brick wall and trapped against Chanyeol's chest.

Despite his whining, Chanyeol knew he secretly liked to be coddled, because he’d expressed worry to Kyungsoo a few weeks ago about being too affectionate and the other cackled at him like such a thing as giving too much affection to Baekhyun was hilarious. 

“I just like to look at you,” Chanyeol whispered, leaning down to press a light kiss to his cheek. 

Baekhyun’s expression changed into one with wide eyes and blushing cheeks, he bit his lip and curled a hand into Chanyeol’s coat before murmuring,  _ “Fine.  _ But just for a little okay.” 

Chanyeol chuckled and wrapped an arm around his shoulders to pull him into a hug, “Don't worry. I’m still buying you a burger, baby.” 

“You  _ better.”  _ Baekhyun puffed into his throat, but despite his fussing he curled his arms around Chanyeol's waist beneath his coat to hold him back just as tight.

***

“I really hate this ugly wall!” 

Chanyeol smiled before he even turned around, because he knew what Baekhyun was fussing about since he complained about it every single time he came to his house.

For someone that pretended he disliked cuddling or holding hands, Baekhyun sure loved to be with him every waking moment of the day, so he never protested when Chanyeol texted him a quick,  _ “Put shoes on, beautiful,”  _ and swung by to pick him up. 

Chanyeol liked to surprise him and pick him up randomly to come hang out, because Baekhyun always came out in pajamas and looked tiny with the way his shirt hung off his shoulder. 

“Then you should paint it for me,” Chanyeol picked up his iPad to shift back against the couch, tucking his own pajama covered legs beneath himself. 

_ “Oh…  _ but…” 

Chanyeol laughed and turned his head to look over the couch, taking his lip between his teeth for a moment at the sight of Baekhyun’s exposed legs in his pajama shorts.

He was only a  _ man,  _ okay? And Baekhyun just happened to be  _ gorgeous.  _

“If you want to paint the wall then paint the wall,” Chanyeol cooed, “I know it just bothers you to no end and honestly, minimalism is out. I like colors more these days _ ,  _ baby doll.” 

When Chanyeol had first designed his house he had wanted it to be minimalist, so all the walls were plain white and his furniture was all black. 

His favorite part of the house was that his ceilings were all glassy looking, brown wooden paneling and his doors and floors were black. 

Black and white had been in when he built the place, and somehow the lack of color worked when he used other things to bring color in, like turquoise vases and red curtains, it looked nice. But for someone like Baekhyun, the lack of color was making him lose his mind.

_ “Ah!”  _ Chanyeol began to smile so hard his cheeks hurt when Baekhyun looked at him over his shoulder with red ears and his palms over his cheeks,  _ “Ah! The nicknames! Stop!”  _

“You like it,” Chanyeol snorted and shifted to look back at his iPad. “Come be cute over here.” 

“It’s not fair…” Baekhyun squeaked, “I’m not good with nicknames, it’s really lame. Jongin made fun of me because I told Yixing I just called you  _ “Chanyeol, my boyfriend,”  _ not something cute…” 

“Being called your boyfriend is good enough for me, Baek.” 

A third and final squeak sounded beside his ear before the couch was shifting as the smaller tossed himself over the back of it.

Chanyeol snorted and reached over to collect Baekhyun’s legs into his lap, “You're part monkey.” 

Baekhyun had the cutest look on his face and he giggled a breathy noise before scooting closer so his thighs rested across Chanyeol's lap and he could lay his head onto his shoulder. 

It was nice when Baekhyun was in such a good mood. And he always seemed to be when it was just the two of them at his studio or Chanyeol's house. 

He never seemed quite as worried then.

Sometimes Chanyeol wondered if Baekhyun was scared his ex was going to just randomly appear out of nowhere in public, but he supposed the paranoia was  _ very _ real for Baekhyun, so he chose not to comment on it. 

“Can I really paint it?” The smaller asked breathlessly from his jump over the couch, laying a palm on the back of Chanyeol’s head to toy with the soft strands of hair at the nape of his neck. “Really, Yeol?” 

Chanyeol hummed and placed his iPad onto Baekhyun’s legs to continue with his work, “Always, gorgeous. Do what you want with it. It’s your canvas.” 

Baekhyun made a quiet excited noise that Chanyeol just  _ had  _ to turn his head and press a kiss to his brow for, purely because he was so sweet today. 

“I’m going to brainstorm.” The smaller said seriously, but with a beam on his face, “Maybe…  _ Ah!  _ Maybe I’ll do a forest and stream, it could look pretty… oh.. oh! I have the best idea, I’m going to put the solar system! It’s going to look so nice, don’t worry, baby.” 

“Did you just  _ baby  _ me?” Chanyeol's dimples settled deep in his cheeks as Baekhyun rested his forehead onto his jaw, “Stealing my nicknames now are you?” 

“Just the ones I really like.” 

“I’ll just have to make more and see which ones you choose then,  _ love bug.”  _ Chanyeol teased, curling an arm around Baekhyun’s waist to rub his side softly.

Baekhyun giggled a handful of times, fingers brushing softly over Chanyeol's ear before he placed his cheek onto his shoulder and pointed at his iPad. “What are you making?”

“Sehun took on a project with a theater,” Chanyeol said, “I’m just going over the design.” 

“Hm.” Baekhyun hummed and pressed his nose into Chanyeol’s cheek, resting lips against the other's jaw.

Chanyeol smiled to himself at his cuddliness and put his iPad to the side in order to cup Baekhyun’s cheek and look at him. “You’re so sweet today.” 

“I figured something out this morning.” Baekhyun mumbled, a happy, rectangular smile on his face as he pressed his nose to Chanyeol’s in a soft butterfly kiss. 

“Are you sharing with the audience?” 

Baekhyun’s smile spread so much he got little crinkles beside his eyes and cupped Chanyeol's face, “I found out something  _ so  _ secret. Nobody knows about it but you and I, okay?” His nose scrunched up with mischief swirling in his eyes.

“Well first you have to tell me what the secret is, honeybee.” 

The smaller began to giggle up a storm at the random series of nicknames Chanyeol was spouting, “Found out I just  _ really, really  _ like you.” 

“Well, that’s not really a secret, but I still like to hear it.” Chanyeol grinned widely, brushing away a lost strand of hair that laid on Baekhyun’s cheekbone.

Baekhyun looked incredibly giggly, happy, and his smile truly did seem like it brightened everything up.

Before Chanyeol could comment on how absolutely radiant he looked in the moment, the elder leaned over to press a soft, parted lip kiss onto his mouth.

Chanyeol made a quiet shocked noise, his palm firmly cupping Baekhyun’s cheek, and eyes wide open so when the smaller pulled back they met eyes and Baekhyun’s were  _ still  _ incredibly happy.  _ More  _ happy when. 

He would even go as far as to say Baekhyun looked content. 

“Is it okay? Are you okay?” Chanyeol whispered, petting his fingers over the shell of his ear. “I want you to be comfortable.”

“You talk  _ way  _ too much.” Baekhyun chuckled and launched back towards his lips, shifting himself blindly about as he held Chanyeol’s face firmly in both hands.

The larger groaned when Baekhyun went straight to taking his bottom lip into his mouth, hands grabbing his hips to help him straddle his lap.

The sound of them kissing was  _ loud,  _ it really wasn’t what Chanyeol thought their first kiss would be like, but this was frantic, and it had been put off for a good three months, so he could feel how frantically Baekhyun was kissing him. 

It wasn’t like he hadn’t thought of kissing Baekhyun, he did  _ so  _ often, but ever since the first time he'd been somewhat rejected he'd been afraid to make a move and instead pressed kisses to his head and cheek.

It seemed Baekhyun grew tired of that, because he kissed him as if he had nothing else he'd rather be doing. 

Chanyeol's hands drifted over his ass to his bare thighs only to tug them around his hips so he could push Baekhyun down onto the couch.

Baekhyun squeaked and began to laugh, but he refused to release his face so he pressed their lips together and giggled against his mouth as Chanyeol hovered over him.

It lasted a few seconds before he was pressing his lips against Chanyeol's once more and tossing his calves around the back of his thighs to lock them together. 

The moment Baekhyun released a slight breathy sound against his lips Chanyeol began to nip at his mouth gently, taking his red bottom lip between his teeth and releasing it with a resonating noise, one that just made the smaller shift his hips and press their noses together harder. 

It was easy to make out the erection beginning to strain against the front of Chanyeol’s pants and given Baekhyun’s half hooded, needy expression Chanyeol was positive if he shifted Baekhyun’s front against his own they would both be in the same situation.

Chanyeol had never gotten this turned on just making out with someone, but Baekhyun had literally exploded on him with affection, and he had nothing else to do but accept  _ all  _ of it.

“Chan…” Baekhyun whispered breathily, fingers curling into his hair as he pressed a wet, yet gentle kiss onto his mouth. 

The smaller shifted against him again and Chanyeol couldn't help releasing a groan from his throat because now he was positive Baekhyun was doing so on purpose. 

Chanyeol turned his head to press a few kisses down the side of his neck over his tattoo and it made him laugh when Baekhyun tried to guide his head down to his hips needily.

_ “Fuck.  _ Take this off.” Chanyeol gently pried his shirt out of the way, now taking in the sight of his smooth waist while Baekhyun yanked his shirt off completely.

Baekhyun had another tattoo on his hip, partially covered by his shorts, so Chanyeol pressed a fleeting, wet kiss to his nipple before trailing down his stomach.

It made the smaller burst into laughter and cover his chest playfully, “You in a hurry?” 

“You’re one to talk,” Chanyeol teased, curling his fingers into the grey shorts to tug them down and off his hips.

He thought Baekhyun was gorgeous at any other given time, but right now he looked outright  _ ethereal.  _

His chest was flushed pink and he had the softest looking stomach Chanyeol had ever seen. There was a smile on his face that made his cheeks round out.

He was just so incredibly beautiful. 

Chanyeol had half a thought of saying something cheesy about Baekhyun being a piece of art himself, but instead he became fixated on a small paintbrush tattoo on his hip. 

It was beautiful, all of the black ink on his skin was beautiful. 

“Do… you want to know about my other tattoo?” Baekhyun took his lip between his teeth and smirked a small bit as Chanyeol pressed a kiss to his hip. “You’ll have to find it.” 

Chanyeol took the challenge seriously, pointedly ignoring how Baekhyun’s cock was flushed at the tip and how he looked incredibly impatient to be touched. 

He began to trail his lips down the curve of his hip and separated his thighs in order to make space between them for his shoulders.

Baekhyun must have been taken back by that because he squeaked and threw hands over his face as if he hadn’t just been teasing him seconds ago.

On his left inner thigh sat the tiniest, most adorable tattoo with the words  _ unique  _ in cursive.

“Why did you get this one?” 

“Motivation to paint.” Baekhyun said quietly, reaching down to pet his head, “Sometimes it's hard to find it when there are a million others just like you.” 

“You’re perfect.” Chanyeol said simply before pressing a kiss onto his thigh and bringing a warm hand to place over his erection.

The smaller moaned and bucked hips into his palm in such a cute way Chanyeol found his sensitivity the sweetest sight he'd seen in a long time.

“God,  _ please  _ just…” Baekhyun whined and tossed his arm over his face like he was embarrassed.

For now, Chanyeol wasn’t going to call him out for shying away from him, because this was the most trust Baekhyun had shown towards him in all these months.

“You’re so gorgeous,” Chanyeol mumbled, taking his cock in his hands and petting the leaking tip. Baekhyun’s cock jumped at the smallest of pressure against it and Chanyeol couldn't stand how absolutely adorable his whining was.

He leaned down to accept the tip of his erection between his lips, giving a good few strokes onto his cock before Baekhyun began to squirm as if he was trying to get away.

Chanyeol had to hold his hips still, but couldn’t help the soft moan of surprise he made when Baekhyun shoved his head deeper onto his cock before the smaller whispered a soft apology.

That was  _ fucking  _ hot, Chanyeol outright groaned at the salty taste of precum on his tongue, it’d been a  _ long  _ time since he’d given someone a blowjob, so he wasn’t the best at bobbing his head or holding back a gag, but Baekhyun moaned like it’d been quite a while since he’d gotten off too.

“Fu-  _ Chanyeol…”  _ Baekhyun pet his hair off his forehead and gave a small shake of his head, “Finger - please,  _ fuck.  _ Just one.” 

If Baekhyun couldn’t get off without being fingered then Chanyeol felt like he might outright  _ pass out  _ on the spot because that was so hot.

He didn’t ask, maybe he would next time, but he pulled off of his cock with a slick  _ pop  _ to wet a finger with saliva before he was going to press a finger onto his entrance.

“Holy- did you fuck yourself before this?” Chanyeol got out when he felt how his entrance was loose.

Baekhyun had both hands holding the arm of the couch behind, but he was impatient and whined as he tried to push back against his finger. “What do you want me to say? Yes. Yes.  _ Fuck  _ Chanyeol, yes, I fucked my pussy-“

_ “Goddamn-“  _

Chanyeol grabbed both of his thighs and folded him back to attach his mouth onto his loose pussy, Baekhyun moaned twice as loud as before and began to try and ride his tongue the second Chanyeol flicked it over his rim.

There was a slight fruity taste that Chanyeol couldn't place and just the thought that Baekhyun had been fucking himself with some fruit flavored lube before this made his eyes roll into the back of his head. 

Maybe that was why the smaller had been so red cheeked when he'd come to pick him up.

“Oh  _ fuck.  _ Yes - mngh-“

Chanyeol barely got a warning except for a stuttered version of his name before Baekhyun clutched his hair and yanked him back onto his cock to collect his cum.

Baekhyun had this beautiful, half lidded look on his face as he breathed heavily and his grip softened up to pet Chanyeol’s hair.

“Baby,” Chanyeol smiled and sat back to collect his hands and tug him into his lap, Baekhyun looked exhausted and slumped against him with a happy beam. “You’re so cute.” 

“It’s been a while,” Baekhyun mumbled, collecting his jaw to press a fleeting kiss onto his mouth. “And you’re good. Sorry for pulling your hair.” 

“You can pull my hair any  _ fucking _ time you want.” 

Baekhyun giggled and laid another kiss onto his lips before a thought occurred to him and he slipped his hand between them. 

Chanyeol made a throaty noise when Baekhyun grasped his cock through his pajamas, tightening his hold around the smaller’s naked waist as he licked his lips. “You don’t have to.” 

“I’m going to suck you off,” Baekhyun rolled his eyes, “Fair is fair. And I want to.” 

Chanyeol  _ certainly  _ wasn’t going to deny that and smiled when Baekhyun pressed a few kisses onto his mouth, they were sweet ones, too sweet compared to what he’d just said.

Then, the smaller was crawling off his lap to place his knees onto the cushions and digging a hand into his pajama bottoms. 

Just as Baekhyun was leaning down to accept his cock between his lips there was a loud beeping noise from the door sensor and Chanyeol  _ jolted  _ to grab the blanket off the back of the couch.

“What the-“ Baekhyun began.

_ “You won’t believe what happened to me!”  _ Sehun’s voice rang from the entryway just around the corner.  _ “Chanyeol! Chanyeol, I’m here now so pay attention to me!”  _

Chanyeol groaned and yanked a blanket-covered Baekhyun into his lap as he leaned over to collect the smaller’s clothing and pass to him beneath the blanket.

“Oh.” Sehun came into the living room, fully dressed in his work clothes and looking between the two. “Hi, Baek.” 

The younger man sighed dramatically and flopped down onto the chair across the room before he looked at them with narrowed eyes. “Wait, were you guys fucking?” 

_ “Sehun.”  _ Chanyeol growled.

“Ugh.” Sehun whined and tossed his head up at the ceiling, “Quick! Get dressed so I can complain about my day. Hurry!” 

Baekhyun looked at Chanyeol with his ears red and eyes wide with surprise, clutching his clothes beneath his blanket.

“Um.. I-I’m going to take a shower,” Baekhyun spluttered, wrapping the blanket tight around himself and hopping off Chanyeol's lap.

Chanyeol watched him waddle off down the hall before tossing his face into his hands and groaning. “Sehun. I’m going to  _ strangle _ you.” 

“Can you do it  _ after  _ you comfort me? I’ve had a long day, Yeol.” 

Chanyeol could have cried on the spot.

***

Chanyeol had a ton of work to get done during the day. 

Especially this week because Sehun's project had become  _ his  _ project when the younger broke down in a series of screeches and threatened to cry over their new picky clients.

This entire week he'd been unable to do much more than give Baekhyun a call on his way home to see how his day was. 

It was really sad to hear Baekhyun say,  _ “Oh, I haven’t done much. I just stayed in…”  _ because Baekhyun didn’t go out unless someone dragged him out of his studio.

Chanyeol was pretty sure he needed to approach the subject soon, because he didn’t want Baekhyun’s condition to worsen. Too much spare time alone just meant more time for him to think about things he shouldn’t. 

With a sigh, Chanyeol tossed his black storage tube containing his building design into the backseat of his car. 

He was beyond exhausted, it was past nine at night and he wanted nothing more than to give Baekhyun a call and probably fall asleep to the smaller ranting about a show he'd begun to watch.

Baekhyun always laughed and teased when he texted him a million  _ sorry _ ’s the next morning when he realized he'd passed out.

Chanyeol had just gotten into his seat and buckled when his phone began to ring, he hadn’t had a chance to check it while at work so his eyes widened at the pure number of missed calls and texts all from the past five minutes. 

“Hey? Jongin?” He answered with his brows pulled together.

_ “Hey- Yeol.”  _ The younger sounded a bit breathy and overwhelmed,  _ “I need you to come pick up Baekhyun.”  _

“Baek? Is he alright?” Chanyeol felt his heart jump up into his throat, “Is he okay? Where is he?” 

There was a heavy pause before Jongin finally replied,  _ “Just come to Baekhyun’s place, okay? We’re packing some things for him. He doesn’t want to come with us.”  _

Then, he hung up and Chanyeol was left with his heart racing a mile a minute and scared out of his mind.

Couldn't Baekhyun get a fucking  _ break?  _

~

Chanyeol arrived across the street from his building at a record time, probably having broke all of the traffic laws on his way, but when he arrived things weren’t pretty.

He could see Kyungsoo holding Baekhyun’s shoulders and trying to get him to look at him, and Jongin was hovering by the side with weary eyes and a duffle on his arm. 

Even just from his view of Baekhyun’s back he could see that the smaller was  _ sobbing.  _ He didn’t need to picture his red eyes or tears because he could visually tell the rise and fall of his shoulders could be nothing but  _ heartache.  _

Chanyeol jumped out of the car instantly, nearly dropping his keys on the ground when he shoved them into his pocket because his hands were shaking so hard. 

“Hey! Baek, it’s Yeol! Look, look!”

Chanyeol didn’t know if he was happy or not with Kyungsoo pointing across the street at him, all he knew was Baekhyun didn’t give it a second thought.

Baekhyun didn’t even look at him before he was running across the street, barefooted and clutching something to his chest, but he ran as fast as his feet could take him through the dark to slam into Chanyeol’s chest.

“Baek? Baby.  _ baby doll.  _ Hey. Sh, it’s okay. Whatever it is, it’s okay.” Chanyeol had to basically carry him out of the street, wrapping an arm around his waist and the other on his head as he took him back to the sidewalk.

Baekhyun just  _ sobbed,  _ his face buried in Chanyeol's chest and trusting him to both hold him  _ and  _ drag him backwards out of the street. 

“Oh, baby. Sh, sh, it’s going to be okay.” Chanyeol didn’t know what to do but pet his hair and lean down so his lips rested against his ear, “You’re okay, sweetheart.” 

The smaller bubbled with a soft whisper of his name that made Chanyeol’s  _ entire  _ heart shatter into pieces. It sounded so begging, yet so heartbroken that Chanyeol had no idea how to take it.

It really just made him so entirely mad. 

Baekhyun didn’t cry, he hadn’t been crying when Chanyeol saw him nearly get beat up, and he hadn’t been crying all of the other times Chanyeol had pointed out or mentioned something he shouldn’t.

Yet he was crying enough for all of that pain right here, right now. 

He couldn’t tell Baekhyun not to cry when he’d been holding it in so long. 

“I know, baby. I know.” He sighed and tightened both arms around Baekhyun’s back to lay his chin on top of his head.

Chanyeol's eyes went wide in an  _ explain  _ sort of expression as he met eyes with the couple standing at the entrance to Baekhyun’s building. 

“Okay, don’t get too upset.” Jongin began.

“I’m already upset since Baekhyun is upset, don’t start with that shit,” Chanyeol scoffed, “Just spit it out.” 

Kyungsoo had a fiery look on his face that could rival any scowl Chanyeol could muster up, “Chanyeol!” He hissed, “This piece of shit came in here and trashed everything! This goddamn piece of  _ shit.  _ The fucker came in and tormented him for  _ hours!”  _

Chanyeol was speechless for exactly one second before he was breathing hard through his nose,  _ “What?”  _

He tugged Baekhyun back only then recognizing Baekhyun’s sobbing was mellowing out, but he couldn’t comment on it when he was cupping his face to meet bloodshot, red eyes, “Baby. Are you okay? Did he put his hands on you? Let me see, let me look.” 

Chanyeol began to tug his sleeves, trying to take a look at his arms, but Baekhyun shook his head fast, refusing to drop the paper in his arms. “N-Not me.” 

“Okay.” Chanyeol took a deep breath because the  _ last  _ thing Baekhyun needed right now was to see him lose his shit. “Okay, honeybee.” He murmured as he knelt down a bit to be level lower than him.

There was something about that action that he saw Baekhyun liked, because the smaller didn’t immediately burst back into tears, he just started trying to take deep breaths and calm himself down. 

“Baby.” Chanyeol said softly as he looked up at him, grabbing his hips, thumbs rubbing into his hip bones, “What happened, can you tell me?” 

_ “He-“  _ Baekhyun’s chin trembled and he paused to bring a hand up and wipe his eye. “- broke my lock. I.. was in the shower and didn’t know, came out and.. he was just.. just  _ waiting.  _ Then I said to go, he didn’t want to and tried to…” His eyes met Chanyeol's, “I said  _ no,  _ and I have a boyfriend _.  _ He got so pissed off I…” 

Chanyeol's jaw clenched up and he climbed back to his feet to bring him back into his chest once Baekhyun began to shake. 

“I’m not a violent person,” Chanyeol stated, “But if I ever see him again I’m going to be.” 

“Chanyeol…” Jongin said quietly, holding out a duffle towards him, “We just grabbed some stuff, but Baekhyun refused to come with us, I’m sure you can manage to get him some things.” 

Chanyeol's first thought was,  _ is it that bad up there?  _ But considering how serious the couple looked, he knew it must be. 

“Thank you,” Chanyeol accepted the bag, “I’ll update you guys.” 

“His landlord is coming in the morning to tape it off, said he was checking cameras and bringing the cops tomorrow to discuss pressing charges.” Kyungsoo pressed his lips together for a moment before whispering as if Baekhyun couldn’t hear, “Just get what he needs out before then, okay?”

That wouldn’t be a problem, Chanyeol would just buy whatever he needed.

Kyungsoo looked tormented when he came closer to rub Baekhyun’s shoulder, there was so much  _ guilt  _ in them that showed in some way he felt responsible for it.

He shouldn’t. Nobody could have known Baekhyun’s ex would come back for him like this. 

Well, crazy people did crazy things, and Chanyeol supposed that Taesan had to be crazy to have abused Baekhyun for so long. 

“Feel better, Baek,” Kyungsoo muttered, “Try and get some rest at Chanyeol's, okay? And give us a call when you feel better.” 

Chanyeol nearly felt like he was invading some sort of personal conversation until Kyungsoo gave a squeeze to his shoulder too and turned to tug Jongin. 

“Baek!” Jongin cried as Kyungsoo dragged him to the car down the street, “You better not start season two without me!” 

Chanyeol groaned at how obnoxious Jongin still seemed to be, but he and Sehun always thought themselves funny in making the elder ones annoyed. 

This time though, he felt Baekhyun laugh wetly against his chest and was relieved to hear him laugh. 

“Okay, beautiful.” Chanyeol mumbled, “Come here, you’re going to step on something.” 

Baekhyun released one arm from the paper in his chest to wrap it around Chanyeol's neck so the other could have a bit of an easier time carrying him.

He took Baekhyun across the street to stand him beside the car as he tossed the duffle in when Baekhyun suddenly said, “My easel,” as if it was the most pressing thought he’d had all night, worry pouring out of his tone.

“Sh, it’s okay,” Chanyeol cooed, pulling open the drivers door, “You just take a seat and I’ll go get it, baby. Just lock the door until I get back.” 

“No, I want to go.” 

Chanyeol was scared the tears were going to come back with every second Baekhyun looked at him with his watery eyes and trembling lip. 

“Let's be quick,” He answered as he offered his arms out for him again.

“I’m sorry I’m being complicated.” Baekhyun muttered, pressing his tear stained cheek into Chanyeol’s, “I just don’t want you to leave me alone.” 

“Oh, love bug, I’m not leaving you alone. I won’t.” 

Baekhyun pressed his lips to his cheek with a quiet huff of exhaustion and Chanyeol tsked to himself as he placed Baekhyun’s feet onto the sidewalk to cup his cheeks. “We’ll be quick.” He promised, pressing a firm but gentle kiss onto his mouth. 

Baekhyun sucked in a breath and nodded before he was turning to climb the stairs up to his studio.

His feet were black on the bottom as he trailed up the steps and Chanyeol made a mental note to both start a warm bath for him when they got back and discreetly check him for bruises because he was sure Baekhyun had to have one or two that perhaps the smaller didn’t even notice.

Baekhyun’s definition of  _ hurt  _ was likely very different from his own.

“I’ll just… I’ll just…” Baekhyun trailed off to shake his hands out and push the door all the way open,  _ “clothes and paints.”  _

Chanyeol was trying not to react. He  _ really  _ was, but as soon as he stepped into the small studio apartment… he failed miserably. 

Baekhyun wasn’t the cleanest person, he always seems to live in chaos, but for Baekhyun it was  _ organized  _ chaos. He knew where every single thing was, and to others it may look messy, but Chanyeol knew it was just how Baekhyun organized his things.

He thought it was pretty cute for Baekhyun to have little piles of paint bottles rather than place them inside of organized tubs, and how the smaller liked to put socks in a basket on top of his dresser instead of inside of a drawer. 

It was simply  _ Baekhyun.  _

But the mess that his studio now was wasn’t Baekhyun at all. 

The side of the door was splintered out right beside the doorknob and the mess began as soon as the door opened.

There was paint splattered all over the brand new, oak floor. There was clothing lying covering the flooring with paint all over them, purposefully placed. And there were actual  _ holes  _ in the walls.

Chanyeol thought it couldn’t get any worse. 

He thought the small futon in the corner being upside down was horrible. The television that was hanging by it's wire with the screen cracked was horrible, and the shattered vase below the window was horrible enough. 

But the worst part was that Baekhyun’s corner, where he liked to stand by the floor to ceiling window and paint, was  _ ruined.  _

Baekhyun’s canvases, both completed and partially completed art pieces, were smashed up in the corner. 

There was a huge piece with a hole right through the center of the canvas. Baekhyun had been working on it for the past two  _ months;  _ Chanyeol had been told it was the first piece in a while that Baekhyun was readily excited to do. 

And just like that, it was worthless. Just like all of the other beautiful art pieces that had gone to waste. 

Chanyeol had to bite the inside of his cheek to restrain himself from commenting as he climbed through the mess to approach Baekhyun’s bed and collect his phone and charger. 

Luckily those things seemed untouched. 

_ “It’s just frustrating.”  _

Chanyeol looked up at him from his spot on the bed, “Baby?” 

Baekhyun was standing across the room with an armful of clothes that he set on his chair in the corner to grab his hair, “This… this..  _ this wouldn’t have happened if I wasn’t such a naive dumbass!”  _

The smaller turned and picked up a painting off the floor just to toss it across the room and burst into a flurry of angry tears and yells. “I just wanted someone! And I chose wrong! I always choose wrong! I chose these  _ goddamn  _ paintings is over money, I chose this  _ fucking  _ -“

Chanyeol jumped up as soon as he saw shaking hands reach for a large, untouched notepad sitting on the wardrobe. “Hey! No, no! Not that - not that-“ He wrapped Baekhyun’s back up in a hug, the smaller arms trapped at his sides. “You’ll regret that. You will. You love those, I know. I  _ know  _ you’re frustrated, baby doll.” 

Baekhyun dropped his head down to his chest and put all his body weight in Chanyeol's hold.

“Nothing is your fault. None of this is your fault.” Chanyeol said firmly, “I'm not going to let you blame yourself. I’m not. And I’m not going to let you destroy any of your art _.  _ Because you love this art, you spent so much time on it, and you chose to be an artist because you  _ love  _ to create beautiful things. You’re an amazing artist, Baekhyun.” 

“Let me…”

Chanyeol let him get one last angry breath out before he was picking him up off his weak knees to place him beside his pile of things on the chair. 

The taller laid hands onto his knees to check on him, brushing fingertips over his jaw. “Tell me anything I just said is wrong, Baekhyun. I want you to look at me and tell me and then I’ll let you destroy it if that’s what you want. But only if you look at me in the eye and tell me.” 

Baekhyun didn’t. Of course he didn’t, because Chanyeol  _ knew  _ he loved his artwork. 

“No?” Chanyeol asked softly, leaning over to press a kiss to his forehead before standing up, “Just sit here and I’ll get some things, baby. I know you’re tired. I know you’re frustrated and probably more scared then you’re going to tell me, but let's not lose any more things than we need to.” 

Baekhyun gave him the tiniest nod known to mankind and pulled his feet into the chair with him to sit in a small ball.

Chanyeol would probably never unsee how vulnerable and tiny he looked. 

With a glance at Baekhyun, he grabbed the notepad off the wardrobe and the backpack he saw sitting beside the closet to begin grabbing any and everything he saw that looked not absolutely trashed.

It was difficult, but he found a few bottles of paint that weren’t poured out onto the floor and he packed the bag full of supplies until it wouldn’t zip before bringing it to Baekhyun. 

“Another bag on top of the wardrobe…” Baekhyun had his cheek pressed against the arm of the chair tiredly and that same paper he’d been clutching all night was back in his hands. 

Chanyeol smiled at him and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek, “That’s the spirit, honeybee.”

Baekhyun smiled just a little, it was dampened by the red tear tracks on his face and his bitten lips, but it was still a smile so Chanyeol would take anything he could get.

There were a few things he had to make sure to grab, so he made it quick by grabbing those items from the bathroom - the basics like a toothbrush, his glasses, and contact supplies - before wandering around the studio aimlessly for things that seemed important.

“You know, I used to think my art was pretty good.” 

“Your art is absolutely amazing, Baekhyun.” 

“... he used to tell me that too.” 

Chanyeol swallowed and dumped the second full bag beside the chair. “I’m listening, sweetheart.” 

Baekhyun had shifted to face the ceiling, his legs sprawled over all the clothes they had to bag up, but he didn’t seem to care because he was just lying there, staring. 

“Did I tell you how I met him?”

“No, baby.” 

Baekhyun shifted to look at him, putting out a single hand and Chanyeol took it instantly. It was cute the way Baekhyun looked like he didn’t want to upset  _ him  _ with the subject.

“You know, after graduation things were really tough.” Baekhyun mumbled, “We all went home, and work - well, you guys went to work.” He laughed a bit, but it seemed dry. “I was a hassle to my parents for two years. I just stayed at home, took odd jobs, I was even a waiter for a while there.” 

“I bet you were the cutest waiter.” 

Baekhyun laughed more genuinely and squeezed his hand. “I didn’t get any numbers, don’t be jealous.” 

Chanyeol chuckled and brought his hand up to kiss his knuckles. “Anyone who gets to see you more than me, I’ll be jealous of.” 

A smile spread across Baekhyun’s lips as he shook his head in the fondest way. “You’re silly.” 

_ I’m telling the truth, _ Chanyeol wanted to tease back, but he withheld it in favor of playing with his fingers so Baekhyun felt comfortable to continue.

And after a moment, he did with a heavy sigh. “I did art inside of a bar, they commissioned me to paint the logo on the wall. I was so proud, it was my first commission I found on my own. They let me have drinks there for free after too. 

And then… I guess it was just a coincidence that I went in at the same time as Taesan. Sat next to him. He offered me a drink and I told him about how I get free ones since I painted it. I really thought he was interested in my art because we talked for hours. After that we just started meeting up at the bar… I- I thought he really liked me. He was so nice to me, and you know how I was… insecure, naive.. stupid.” 

“Sh, you're not naive or stupid. You just wanted someone.” Chanyeol argued quietly, “You were lonely, it’s understandable. He was looking to take advantage of you.” 

Baekhyun pressed his lips together and nodded, but Chanyeol could see right through him and knew he wasn’t agreeing because he believed him, Baekhyun was just agreeing to  _ pretend _ he believed him. 

Self esteem was something they could work on. 

“He had a lot of money and asked if I wanted a place because I told him all the stuff with my parents pressuring me to  _ do  _ something. I went. But since he paid for everything I basically… basically… had no out? I mean, I thought  _ so what  _ if he gets a temper after a while.  _ So what  _ if he drinks more than he should. I mean… I got to paint, I got someone. It was more than I really had before. So I... I guess I just  _ dealt  _ with it. I grew up and got thick skin.” 

“Baekhyun.” Chanyeol ran fingers over his cheek and did the smallest shake of his head. “Baby let me tell you this. There is  _ no  _ reason a person should have to  _ deal  _ with being tormented. There is absolutely no excuse for him hurting you - emotionally, mentally, and physically. There is  _ no  _ excuse. Do you understand what I’m saying? It’s not your fault, baby. It’s  _ not _ your fault.”

Baekhyun took a single deep, long breath before his eyes flickered to the ceiling and Chanyeol recognized it as him willing the tears in his eyes not to fall.

“Ah, come here you genius artist.” 

Chanyeol playfully tugged him out of his seat to bite at his cheek before he could begin to cry again, and Baekhyun began to actually laugh. A fully fledged, squeal-like laugh complete with a hand pushing his cheek away.

Of course his shoving only lasted a moment before he just opted to grab Chanyeol’s cheek and press their noses together sweetly. 

“You’re adorable.” Chanyeol mumbled against his lips, pressing a quick peck to his mouth.

“I like you so much.” 

Chanyeol had no idea what to do about the way his heart beat in his ears every single time Baekhyun said that. “I like you so much  _ too,  _ baby doll.” 

Baekhyun released what Chanyeol could only call an excited giggle before wrapping his arms around his neck tightly in a hug. 

“You wanna go home now?” Chanyeol smiled, pressing a kiss to the side of his head. 

“Fair warning, I move a lot in my sleep.” 

“I think I can handle it.” 

***

Chanyeol took the next day off so he could have a three day weekend at home with Baekhyun for his first few days of settling in.

Baekhyun was a bit of a fibber, he didn’t move a lot at all last night.

At least he hadn’t when Chanyeol tucked him into his chest.

But, today was going to be a rough day seeing as later Baekhyun had to go to his studio and fill out a victim statement for his landlord, but from the short call Chanyeol had with Jongin and Kyungsoo earlier it sounded like his landlord hadn’t been upset with Baekhyun at all.

(Likely due to the fact Kyungsoo had told her a bit of Baekhyun’s situation, and in that case the landlord had been more than accepting with a quick,  _ “I wanted to redo the layout of the studio anyway.”)  _

At least  _ that  _ was a plus about the situation. 

The second plus was definitely witnessing Baekhyun’s bed head first thing in the afternoon that was coming down the stairs, it was sticking up every which way.

“Good morning, princess.” Chanyeol teased as he leaned over the counter.

Baekhyun looked at him like a grumpy puppy, nose scrunched and all as he slumped into the kitchen and made a beeline for his side. 

“It’s the afternoon.” Baekhyun sighed and wrapped his arms around Chanyeol's naked waist. “But I still wanna sleep.” 

“I’m sorry, I know you had a long night.” Chanyeol cooed and laid his cheek onto his messy hair, “We’re going to get the stuff we need to do done so we can just stay home all weekend and set up your art stuff.” 

Baekhyun puffed a warm breath against his chest before laying his chin onto his sternum and silently asking for a kiss.

How could  _ anyone  _ resist such pretty eyes? Baekhyun really was a whole lot of pretty. Pretty eyes, pretty nose, pretty face. He was just so  _ pretty.  _

Chanyeol couldn't resist pressing a kiss onto his pretty pout. 

He added a handful more just for the sake of making a smile spread across Baekhyun’s lips and the smaller laugh breathily.

“Hungry?” Chanyeol whispered, adding a last kiss to the tip of his nose before letting him go and pointing to the living room over the counter.

“I’m not a morning person, but I will be if you make me breakfast every morning.” Baekhyun teased as he walked into the living room to - of course - toss himself over the back of the couch like the heathen he was.

Chanyeol was never happier in his life to have an open kitchen, because he could watch Baekhyun happily roll onto the couch and the two, soft droopy eyes peer at him over the cushions everyday of his life.

“Lucky for you, I happen to be the  _ best  _ at making breakfast food.” Chanyeol chided with a small grin as he grabbed their plates off the counter. “Your timing coming downstairs was amazing.” 

“My timing for  _ everything  _ is amazing.” 

“Why do I feel like you’re trying to make a sexual joke?”

“Maybe I am.” 

Chanyeol snickered and rolled his eyes fondly as he put a plate in Baekhyun’s lap before his eyes flickered around in thought and he was jumping back up, “Let me get you a coffee. I almost forgot.” 

The look Baekhyun sent him was nothing but adoring as the smaller bit his lip and placed his plate onto the coffee table, “If this is a breakfast date then I’ll wait for you before eating.” 

“If this is a breakfast date then I’m afraid you’re going to be here for a long time while they do construction, love bug.” 

It was silent for a moment, the only noise being Chanyeol pouring them coffee and getting creamer from the fridge before abruptly Baekhyun was jumping up with a loud  _ oh!  _

_ “I’ll be back!”  _ The smaller flung his arm around to point a stern finger at him before adding,  _ “Don't start the breakfast date without me!”  _

Chanyeol burst into chuckles at his antics and shook his head fondly as he brought their drinks over. 

His stomach was rumbling, but since the king demanded he not start the “breakfast date” without him Chanyeol would live a few more minutes without his bacon. 

It was cute that if he listened hard enough he could hear the tippy-tapping of his feet upstairs. 

It also felt somewhat strange, because he wasn’t used to having people upstairs where his bedroom was without him. 

Not a bad sort of strange, just…  _ strange.  _

Baekhyun was doing all kinds of  _ strange  _ things to his heart even before he crawled under the covers last night with damp hair and tired eyes to hide in his chest. 

Living with him was going to be hard on his heart. 

_ “I got it!” _ Baekhyun started bursting down the stairs, Chanyeol’s shirt hitting the back of his thighs with every jump to the next step. 

He held a paper in his hand, and Chanyeol’s brows shot up, but he didn’t immediately respond to seeing it.

Chanyeol was curious what the paper Baekhyun had been clutching all last night was, but it wasn’t exactly his place to ask or bother him about it.

But it seemed he had approval now because Baekhyun plopped down onto his knees beside him on the couch and placed it onto his lap. “Look, baby.” 

Chanyeol found him extra cute when he tossed in endearments, so he already had a smile on his face as he collected the paper and felt Baekhyun lean into his side. 

The paper was thick, sketchbook paper but it had a big rip through the middle of it, but there was blue painters tape holding it together.

“I was trying to… do something I thought you’d like..” Baekhyun whispered nervously as he curled his hand around Chanyeol's thigh, “Maybe… if you liked it, you can get that tattoo you mentioned. With the stars.” 

Chanyeol was  _ so  _ touched he was speechless. 

On paper it looked like such a simple drawing of an array of stars in a bunch of different shapes, sizes and styles, but it was the  _ thought  _ and the fact that Baekhyun sat down to hand draw each and every one of them.

“I was working on it, so it was out when  _ he  _ got there. I begged him not to,” Baekhyun sighed, “But he tore it up and said it was  _ shit  _ anyway.” 

“This?” Chanyeol frowned and quickly shook his head, “This is beautiful Baekhyun.  _ Thank you.  _ This… this is incredibly sweet.” 

The taller pressed his lips together in a line because he was truthfully not sure what to say, it was just so sweet and kind. 

He could see that a lot of work went into each of the pencil strokes.

“Are you going to pick one?” Baekhyun asked softly, pressing his cheek into Chanyeol’s arm and eyeing his profile.

Chanyeol cleared his throat because he felt like a lump of emotion was forming and nodded as he began to peel back the tape off the page carefully so as not to rip it. 

Baekhyun made a confused noise when he put the larger part of the paper onto the table and began to fold the other part in half.

“These ones.” Chanyeol folded the edge down so it was a square of two stars, one much smaller than the other, “I want these two, and look, now it looks like the paper wasn’t ripped at all.”

“If you keep making me feel like this Park Chanyeol…” Baekhyun trailed off with a bite of his lip and shook his head.

“Like what?” Chanyeol beamed and looked at him with amusement flickering through his eyes, “Tell me.” 

Baekhyun sat up on his knees and promptly grabbed his cheeks to press kisses onto his lips without granting him an answer. 

But that was perfectly fine, Chanyeol didn’t really need an answer when he felt the exact same about Baekhyun. 


	3. Chapter 3

“The bigger star is _me.”_

Chanyeol began to laugh from his place watching Baekhyun practically dance around the small tattoo shop. 

One would think the smaller was the one here for a tattoo - which Baekhyun had debated on in the car only to dramatically decide not to get one - since he was so excited.

They’d finally found time to go out and get some shopping done since Kyungsoo and Jongin's wedding was coming, and it had been a long past month of trying to get things in order with Baekhyun’s landlord and work, but Baekhyun made it much easier for him. 

The smaller wasn’t hard to have around his home at all. Baekhyun usually had dinner ready by the time he got home, he greeted him with a bright smile, and he looked adorable since he always stole his clothes. 

In fact, Chanyeol _really_ enjoyed him being in his home. Baekhyun teased him every morning of falling asleep like a baby as soon as he had him to snuggle like a teddy bear. 

To which Chanyeol replied it was Baekhyun’s fault he was so _snuggle-able._

“Why do you get to be the big star, sweetheart?” Chanyeol asked with a fond grin spread across his face, leaning against the leather chair.

Baekhyun began to giggle to himself, his back to him as he ran his fingers over the wall of tattoo prints before spinning around so fast Chanyeol's button down fell right off his shoulder to reveal his turtleneck beneath it. 

“Because I’m _older_ of course!” He cried and stormed over with his arms out like a child receiving candy. His familiar, heavy boots Chanyeol had grown fond of sounded even louder against the tiles of the tattoo shop.

“You’re also _small.”_ Chanyeol snorted and accepted Baekhyun’s knees into his lap when the smaller plopped down beside him to hug his neck. “So you should be the little star.” 

“Oh, but what if I wanna be the big one?” Baekhyun pouted his lips and pressed a smacking kiss to his cheek, “Can’t I be the big star, baby?”

Chanyeol pretended to contemplate for a minute longer just because he liked the cute and obnoxious way Baekhyun sucked up to him. It mostly just consisted of a whole bunch of kissing his face and pouting.

Baekhyun pouting could truthfully raise heart rates though, so he could only take it for so long.

“But,” Chanyeol mumbled and wrapped an arm around his waist, “The bigger star only looks so big because the smaller one's light is being absorbed into it. So if you’re the smaller one we can say… you light me up, hm?” 

Baekhyun squeaked and delivered a hit to his chest before hiding his face in his shoulder, _“I hate you. That’s so cheesy.”_ He complained into Chanyeol’s sweater.

“You love it.” 

“Unfortunately.” 

“Agree you’re the small star.” 

“I agree only if you let me be the big spoon for cuddles later.” 

Chanyeol tittered and pinched his side playfully just to hear the cute _hey!_ Baekhyun released and to watch him squirm and pretend not to like it. “You have to be _big_ to be the big spoon.” 

“Not everyone can be a giant, Chanyeol!” 

Sighing dramatically, Chanyeol tossed his hands up in surrender. “Fine. You got me there.” 

Baekhyun looked like a toddler who just won his first _participation_ trophy as he clutched Chanyeol's sweater and gave him heart eyes. “You’re the best.” 

Chanyeol's playful frown softened when he heard the sincerity in his tone and it was replaced with an adoring look as he cupped Baekhyun’s jaw to press a kiss onto his lips. “No, baby. You’re the best.” 

_“Park Chanyeol?”_

The couple jumped a small bit and Chanyeol quickly stood up to tug Baekhyun off the couch with him to smile politely at the tattoo artist. 

“Ah,” She laughed and pushed open the door to the back, “I remember when my husband and I were in the honeymoon phase too.” 

Baekhyun cut in before Chanyeol even could, tugging the tallers fingers as he walked towards the door, chin up high and a pretty grin on his face. “He’s getting a tattoo for me.” He bragged, “Two stars. I’m the big one of course.” 

The tattoo artist laughed and pointed them into the room, “Maybe next time you’ll be here getting one for him, hm?” 

Baekhyun giggled and turned to look up at Chanyeol with a lick of his lips and a coy grin. _“Maybe I will.”_

***

It was past one in the morning. 

Chanyeol had been waiting in bed for Baekhyun to pad his way upstairs, but it seemed he'd fallen asleep waiting, yet the smaller still wasn’t back to bed yet.

He and Baekhyun did have different sleep schedules seeing as Baekhyun basically did what he wanted _when_ he wanted, and Chanyeol tried to keep his schedule pretty similar everyday.

Chanyeol didn’t mind, not at all, but he did like to have the smaller close to cuddle up to.

Maybe he was getting a little too used to having Baekhyun around, but he was going to take advantage of it down to the last second he had with him living here. 

With a rub of his eye Chanyeol rolled out of bed. He blindly flattened down the mess he felt standing up on his head and grabbed the stair railing due to his tiredness as he walked downstairs. 

The kitchen light was on so he wasn’t completely in the dark as he traveled out of the hallway, and as he entered the main living area he heard that the television was on, only the volume was soft and quiet.

“Baby?” Chanyeol asked groggily, his voice deep and full of sleep as he leaned on the wall by the stairway. “What’re you doing, sweetheart?” 

_“I’m over here!”_

Chanyeol released a chuckle and walked the short distance into the living room. 

What greeted him was the sight of the furniture in the corner of the room pushed away from the wall, and Baekhyun standing there in only a long, orange, paint-stained shirt. 

_“Hi!”_ Baekhyun chirped, bringing a hand up to push his hair off his cheek, and Chanyeol couldn't help the small laugh that left his mouth when he saw that the move had left behind a line of blue paint.

“Hi, I didn’t know you were going to finish this tonight.” Chanyeol answered, leaning over the back of the couch to rest his chin on his palms. 

The past month Baekhyun had the outline of the planets he wanted to put on the wall down, and then he’d layered a pretty layer of a black background and little white and silver stars.

Truthfully, it looked gorgeous enough just like that, but the smaller was on a mission to paint all eight planets.

Chanyeol wasn’t about to stop him, because he knew it would turn out twice as gorgeous as the sketch Baekhyun had shown him of it.

Plus, Baekhyun had a lot of fun doing it, and looked really proud of himself when Chanyeol told him how pretty things were looking.

“I’m not finishing it tonight,” Baekhyun mumbled, placing his brush into a cup of water that was resting on the windowsill, “I just did the outline for Neptune, then I was going to wash up for bed.” 

With a soft hum of acknowledgement, Chanyeol made his way closer to take a better look when the smaller grabbed a wash rag off the window to wipe his hands off. 

He came around his back to wrap arms around his waist and rest his head onto Baekhyun’s and almost immediately the smaller leaned his head back with a small grin to accept a kiss to his cheek. 

“You tired?”

“Mhm.” 

“Did I keep you up? I tried to stay quiet. I’m sorry, honey.” 

“And you make fun of _me_ for trying out so many endearments?” 

Baekhyun stuck his tongue out at him before tilting his head to lay it utop of Chanyeol's and take in a deep, content sigh of a breath.

“You didn’t keep me up,” Chanyeol murmured, swaying Baekhyun a bit in his arms, “I just wanted to know what you were up to.” 

“What else am I _ever_ up to when I’m not bugging you to death?” Baekhyun giggled and twisted around to look at him. 

Chanyeol could tell he was trying to keep his paint stained fingers to himself, but that lasted only a second before the smaller grabbed his cheek to turn his head to the side and press a kiss directly below his ear, right on top of the two tiny, black colored stars. 

He could feel paint now laying in a thin, yet it felt heavy, layer on his face, but being with an artist implied _paint stains_ from the beginning and Chanyeol had readily signed up for it, so he didn’t mind a few messes here and there. 

“Since when do you bug me,” Chanyeol argued, sleepily resting his chin onto Baekhyun’s shoulder and slumping against him. “You never bug me. If anything I bug you.” 

“You do try to squeeze the life out of me when you’re sleeping. I’m not made of stuffing, you know.” 

Chanyeol grumbled a bit at that and Baekhyun laughed as he tucked a hand beneath the back of the tallers shirt to pet his spine.

“It’s okay,” Baekhyun added softly, laying his jaw onto Chanyeol’s collarbone as he laid warm, likely paint stained, palms onto his chiseled back, “I like anything you do.” 

“Now you’re just pushing it.” 

“No.” Baekhyun pouted his lips and shook his head the smallest bit. “Really. Even how back in college you always wore that _same_ old ragged hoodie with Marvel logo on it. I swear you wore that and those knee length shorts every single day of summer session.”

“Oh god.” Chanyeol began to whine and nuzzled his face into Baekhyun’s neck with a growl. “How can you embarrass me like this? Forget you even remember that.”

“Okay.” Baekhyun cooed before a second later he was releasing a giggle and raking nails gently over his spine, nearly like he was trying to put him to sleep. “But I’m not going to forget that you also carried Iron Man comics with you just in case Jongdae got in an argument with you over whether he was better than other superheroes. Now that’s just too cute.”

Chanyeol internally cried, but externally it came out as a very childish huff. “No. Forget both.” 

“Nope, one or the other but not both.” 

_“Baek...”_ He whined and squeezed Baekhyun’s waist harder, “I was so nerdy.” 

“You’re still nerdy, you have Deadpool underwear.” 

“Ugh, I knew I shouldn’t have let you put stuff in my dresser.” 

“I was going to dig everywhere anyway. I have to sniff out all your dirty secrets.” 

Chanyeol burst into chuckles and pulled back to tug the smaller with him towards the couch because he still felt like he could pass out at any moment. 

He settled down lying across the sofa and it only took a moment for Baekhyun to climb up and worm in between Chanyeol and the back of the couch with a soft smile, resting on his elbow to look down at him.

“You know what I found out?” Baekhyun whispered, shifting to place his leg over Chanyeol's front and bringing a hand to his cheek to stroke his thumb over his brow.

Chanyeol _literally_ felt like a child being cooed to bed at his soft actions. Any second now he felt like he’d wake up not remembering when he passed out. 

“What, baby doll….” Chanyeol rumbled sleepily, closing his eyes with a quiet huff and laying a warm hand on the back of Baekhyun’s thigh that was hiked up his hips.

“Nevermind, baby. I’ll tell you later.” The smaller said under his breath as he took in Chanyeol's tired state.

Baekhyun then went silent, opting to take his palm and comb back the hair from Chanyeol's forehead. He kept doing the soft, calming action until Chanyeol began to softly snore.

He mused that Chanyeol had to be what people called a _gentle giant_ purely because of how incredibly sweet and soft he was.

Baekhyun licked his lips and shifted down to lay his head against Chanyeol's collarbone, lips brushing against the younger’s jaw when he tilted his head to look at him once more. 

“I just like you _so_ much.” Baekhyun answered, voice barely a whisper as he pressed a chaste kiss against Chanyeol's sharp jaw. “I like you so much it worries me.” 

With a last quiet sigh Baekhyun settled down with a hand clutched in Chanyeol's pajama shirt and paint dried up his arms. “Don't make me love you, Park Chanyeol.” 

It might just be too late.

***

“I think I found something you could use.” Chanyeol's eyes were round and big like a puppy’s as he carried the small red basket through the tiny shop.

Baekhyun was in need of some more supplies, and while the smaller was adamant he could go alone, Chanyeol was always ready to spend time together, so he swung by and picked him up on the way home without a second thought.

The art shop Baekhyun liked was one where second hand items went or where the overstock from other stores went, so things were discounted quite a bit despite being practically new. 

Chanyeol didn’t mind sparing money for the smaller to get some nice things, but Baekhyun was actually very good with his money - despite what Taesan had implied so long ago - and hated when Chanyeol splurged on him. 

It helped that currently, with his studio in pieces and his landlord on Taesan’s ass to press charges, he had nothing else to spend his money on but things he liked or things he thought Chanyeol would like.

Baekhyun was just incredibly sweet like that.

“Love bug,” Chanyeol rushed around the shelves and found Baekhyun facing a wall of canvases. It was hard not to appreciate how downright gorgeous Baekhyun looked _especially_ today. 

He'd gone for a less “extreme” Baekhyun look and wore high waisted bottoms with a light blue sweater tucked into them and plain white tennis shoes; Chanyeol's favorite part was the fact that the smaller was wearing his glasses, ones with thin metal black frames. 

Baekhyun had jumped into the car whining that his eyes were too dry to wear contacts today, he’d pouted up a storm, but Chanyeol had just about kissed him silly for looking so pretty. 

“Love bug.” 

“Yes, babe? Can you get that board for me?” Baekhyun asked, not even turning around but instead pointing a finger to a pack of hand sized canvases sitting at the top of the shelf. 

Chanyeol agreed and quickly sauntered up to his side to pass them over and Baekhyun began to look them over without much of an acknowledgement. 

If Chanyeol had to pout for his attention, he would. 

“Honeybee.” 

“Hm?” Baekhyun rumbled, tucking the boards into his basket before looking again at the shelf. “What was it?” 

“I found these!” Chanyeol cried and placed his basket out in front of him, “You said not to forget the oil paints right? Look there’s even… look at all these colors. You _said_ you needed them, or was I thinking wrong…”

Baekhyun blinked at him before a smile spread across his face and he grasped Chanyeol's jaw to tilt his head down and press a smacking kiss onto his lips. “You remember that? I said that a week ago, you’re so sweet. Let me take a look.” 

Chanyeol readily held the basket up so he could look through it with a bright, awaiting grin. 

“If i ever hear…” Baekhyun murmured as he picked colors he wanted from Chanyeol's basket, “... anyone say their boyfriend is the sweetest, we might just have to fight. That’s just how things are. I don’t speak with liars and my boyfriend just _has_ to be the sweetest, it’s law.” 

Chanyeol legitimately felt like a dog who’d just gotten praised as he laughed and felt his ears heat up, and he was not the only one that noticed the correlation because Baekhyun grinned ear to ear and looked at him for a moment.

“Yeol, I just realized something.” 

“What?” 

Baekhyun began to giggle and grabbed his face, “We might have to end the _finding nickname_ game here, you're a puppy. That’s it. My giant puppy dog.” 

Chanyeol knew he should be embarrassed, but nothing could really make his mood drop when Baekhyun was pressing a kiss to his nose and coddling him like this.

“Come on, puppy. Let’s go find you a nice collar.” 

Okay, _now_ he was embarrassed. 

***

Watching Baekhyun paint was art itself. 

On weekends, when he had time, Chanyeol spent a lot of it making them lunch and dinner. And all the time before, during, and after was watching the smaller either mimic a movie he’d put on the TV or shake his bottom back and forth to music he played with his hands and cheeks paint covered and a brush in his grip. 

It never grew old. Chanyeol truthfully thought he could watch Baekhyun do this forever. 

“How about we go to...” He heard the elder hum from the living room behind him, “Modern Art Museum? It’s my turn to take you out! It’s the clear winner, right? You like modern art more. It’s just your art style.” 

“My art style?” Chanyeol laughed to himself as he tore open a bag of chips to put in a bowl, “Baby. I only draw building designs, that hardly counts as an _art style._ You can choose where we go next weekend because you want to go there, don’t base it on what you think I’d like.” 

_“Yah!”_

Chanyeol pressed his lips together to hold in the laugh that wanted to bubble up his throat and listened to the “ferocious” sound of Baekhyun’s angry feet padding across the kitchen before he leeches onto his back. 

“If you draw, you’re an artist! I’m going to… I’m gonna _whoop_ you next time you say that!” Baekhyun cried into the back of his neck, pressing all his body weight into Chanyeol’s spine. 

“Whoop me?” Chanyeol began to cackle as he turned around to face the music that was Baekhyun’s _very_ adorable scrunched, angry look. 

It was _oh so_ scary, especially since the smaller was soaked in paint and his eyes were still a bit puffy from the nap he'd taken across Chanyeol's lap a bit ago.

“That just feels like an excuse to do something _dirty._ Something you want to tell me?” Chanyeol teased as he curled a hand into the hair at the nape of Baekhyun’s neck. 

Baekhyun had just recently gotten a haircut. It’d been a big surprise when Chanyeol had gotten home from work to a _brunette_ and not the droopy eyed boyfriend with fading red in his hair and a mullet so long it was starting to hit his shoulders. 

Chanyeol would never tell him because he knew Baekhyun would pout, but Baekhyun looked so much younger like this - with his hair trimmed into a nice undercut and bangs that couldn’t hide his eyes. 

There was something just so _youthful_ about it. And it probably did have to do with the fact that seeing him with deep brown hair once again just set off all the memories in Chanyeol's mind of the smaller with his doe eyes that hid behind his backpack when they spoke.

Sometimes Chanyeol wished he was still like that - not because he preferred it - but because if he hadn’t been put into such a horrible situation in the first place, then Baekhyun would _still_ be that little, soft spoken, and gentle artist he knew in college.

He just wished Baekhyun didn’t need to hide himself behind a facade of scowls and demands until someone cracked him open.

“Trust me, if I wanted something from you, then you would _know.”_

Chanyeol gawked in shock and made a surprised noise when Baekhyun outright lifted a knee to press against his cock before the smaller was giggling like a storm and retreating to yank open the freezer.

“Hey!” Chanyeol complained, “You think you can just do that and run away? If I get hard it’s on _you.”_

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Baekhyun pouted and blinked innocently as he pulled an ice cream out of the box and popped it open. “I’m just eating my ice cream, Yeollie.” 

Chanyeol groaned and rolled his eyes at his playful innocence, slumping against the stove to pout and watch Baekhyun smile to himself. 

The smaller was obsessed with these ice cream sticks. Chanyeol personally didn’t really like too much sweets unless it was late, so he'd yet to dig into one, but he was sure if he did Baekhyun would have a conniption and swat his hands out of the box anyway.

It was literally _always_ the first thing Baekhyun ran to get at the grocery store, Chanyeol couldn't even count how many times he'd called on the way home to see if he needed something just to hear, _“Um… Chan, I might have eaten all of the BingBing ice cream bars again… please bring some?”_

“You’re just being mean to me,” Baekhyun added with a dramatic pout as he slid onto the stool at the island and pressed the end of his ice cream to his lips. “I’m the victim of your horniness here.” 

Chanyeol _was_ horny. It was hard not to be when Baekhyun was here and messing with him - and his cock - all the time by running around in just his shirt or standing around by the office door in just a towel with the excuse that he had an urgent text. 

Chanyeol didn’t know if he was _trying_ to push him to his limit, but Baekhyun right now was answering that _yes, yes he was,_ because the way he was taking his ice cream into his mouth was not how one should eat an ice cream.

“Baek.” Chanyeol grabbed the bridge of his nose, “Do you need to eat it like that?”

“Like what?” Baekhyun wondered with big eyes, “This is how I always eat it.” He claimed, shoving the ice cream into his mouth with a dramatic hum of approval that sounded _way_ to moan-like not to be purposeful. 

“You-“ Chanyeol started up but fell short with narrowed eyes when Baekhyun slurped loud and had half the ice cream in his mouth. 

And _no, no_ that was not how Baekhyun normally ate them - it wasn’t how _anyone_ ate them unless they were little _shits_ like Baekhyun trying to get their lover worked up.

Chanyeol groaned and walked out of the kitchen to make his way towards the stairs, “I’ll be back when you’re done sucking off your ice cream.” 

“Oh!” Baekhyun perked up from his seat and eyed him, “Are you going to masturbate?” 

Chanyeol rolled his eyes and grabbed the stair railing to go upstairs when a sudden sound of the stool clambering rang out and the freezer opened.

“Puppy!” Baekhyun smirked and placed his ice cream back into the wrapper, “If you wanted me to suck you off you only had to _ask.”_

“Baekhyun,” The larger sighed and leaned against the wall, “What in the world am I supposed to do with you, baby? I can’t tell if you’re a demon or an angel half the time.” 

“Well I don’t know about being an angel, but I can tell you that I’m here and ready for your cock, _gimme!”_

***

_“I know it’s a good thing.”_

_“Soo- no, Soo, I said I know. I know it is, okay? Can you not… don’t mention him and Chanyeol in the same sentence, it makes me feel sick.”_

There was a pregnant pause before Baekhyun sighed once again, _“I know I don’t need to feel like that, Chanyeol's a good person.”_

 _“No, we’re doing good… really good. I-“_ Baekhyun stopped for a moment, _“I just don’t want to drag him into my shit, you know? I don’t want to overstep and share something I shouldn’t or… worry him. I really… just don’t want to ruin things. I really, really don’t. Kyungsoo, I think I l-”_

Chanyeol wasn’t meaning to eavesdrop, he really wasn’t. He’d just gotten home and was confused when Baekhyun wasn’t slumped over the back of the couch watching the door and waiting for him, so he’d searched the house.

Instead of puppy-dog peering over the couch, Baekhyun was slumped in the spare room downstairs curled up in a ball on his desk chair. 

It was a room that Chanyeol rarely used except for when he had to use the computer to check the 3D graphics for a project, but recently Baekhyun had been using it as his painting supply storage room.

But when he’d walked by looking for Baekhyun and overheard _this,_ well, Chanyeol didn’t want to overhear _too_ much.

“Knock knock.” Chanyeol quickly pushed the door open, “I’m home, baby.” 

Baekhyun’s eyes went as wide as spoons as he shifted to sit up, mouth in a small _o._ “Soo.” He said into his phone. “I have to go. N-Yeah. Yeah Chan just got home. I’ll talk to you later.” 

Chanyeol leaned against the doorframe with a small grin and turned his head to eye the stack of finished paintings that were piling up by the door.

As soon as he completed the wall of planets he'd been getting paintings out left and right and while Chanyeol snagged the ones he wanted to hang up, Baekhyun went all red faced and complained about him being embarrassing hanging things around the house.

Chanyeol mellowed out about hanging them at home.

(But that didn’t mean there wasn’t a pile of them growing in his office at work.) 

The smaller tossed his phone down and rushed across the room to be tugged into a hug that made his tiptoes brush the carpet when Chanyeol lifted him up. 

“Hey, honeybee.” Chanyeol murmured and pressed a kiss to his shoulder, taking a deep breath of the coconut smelling body lotion Baekhyun used. 

And just like that Baekhyun’s body slumped onto his and he locked arms around Chanyeol's neck tighter, “Missed you.” 

Chanyeol couldn't help smiling a bit as he dropped his hands down to Baekhyun’s hips to tug his hoodie over his shorts with a soft noise. “Yeah? You look like you had a long day, is something wrong?” 

Baekhyun really did look like he’s had a bad or very long day. 

He had a bit of dullness in his eyes, and Chanyeol swore it looked as if the smaller had cried recently. 

“Nothings wrong.” 

Chanyeol frowned and cupped his cheeks to look at him, taking in the bit of red to his eyes as he brushed his thumbs over Baekhyun’s cheeks. “Are you sure? We can talk, sweetheart. You know that, right?” 

Baekhyun’s eyes wavered a small bit before he wrapped hands around each of Chanyeol’s wrists and surged in for a quick, yet lasting kiss. 

He wouldn’t ever _not_ accept a kiss from Baekhyun, so Chanyeol let him have his fair share of affection before the smaller let him go only to do a rather cute and awkward point to the tiny sofa in the corner. 

“Do you feel sick?” Chanyeol wondered as he took a seat, an arm already up and waiting for the smaller to tuck himself beneath.

“I’m not sick, baby, don’t worry.” Baekhyun replied as he laid himself across Chanyeol's lap and yanked the tallers arm across his chest to hold onto. “I just… this morning I got a call from my landlord, she said they finally cited him for the damages. I don’t know, I’m happy about that, really, but I guess it just….” 

“What, Baekhyun?” Chanyeol prompted softly, “You can tell me, baby doll.” 

Baekhyun sighed, grasping Chanyeol's palm to play with his fingers over top of his chest. “I just don’t want to worry you.” He mumbled, “I just have a lot on my mind and then… I don’t know, I had a nightmare earlier.” 

“Oh, baby, you don’t ever have to worry about me being worried. That’s _part_ of what comes with being in a relationship, right? You worry about me, I worry about you. You can tell me anything that’s going on. I want to know what’s going on, sweetheart.” 

He supposed maybe Baekhyun didn’t really understand relationships as much as he should. 

The angry and vengeful part of him wanted to drag Taesan’s face through the mud for what he’d done to Baekhyun. 

Chanyeol wasn’t sure if there had been anyone else before Taesan, the logical part of him said _probably not_ considering how soft spoken Baekhyun had always been, and the smaller never mentioned anyone but Taesan when they spoke about such things - although even that was rare because it made Baekhyun uncomfortable speaking to Chanyeol about his ex. 

He shouldn’t be, if he didn’t talk then Chanyeol couldn't fix these wrong ideas Baekhyun had about relationships. 

Baekhyun just didn’t seem to understand that being with someone entailed caring about every fear they had and working on it together. 

“Okay… well,” Baekhyun whispered, chin to his chest and voice so soft Chanyeol had to tilt his head towards him, “I've been… _stressed._ I don’t know where to go to promote my work and Jongin said I should ask if you know but I just feel like I'm relying on you too much and I don’t want to start annoying you…”

“You sweetheart,” Chanyeol growled playfully and nuzzled into his hair. “Don't you ever feel like that. _Never._ I love having you here and I love helping promote your art _and_ I would love even more if you let me spoil you a bit more, but you always tell me _no more!”_

Baekhyun giggled softly at the mimic of his voice and craned his neck back to look at him with soft eyes. “Really?”

Chanyeol playfully pressed his nose against Baekhyun’s before laying a kiss to his mouth - one that was a bit more complicated than needed considering Baekhyun was upside down from his angle, but it was worth the effort when the smaller beamed. “Always, Baek.” 

Baekhyun’s eyes brightened and he twisted to lay on his side and set his hands beneath his head and head on Chanyeol's thigh. The hoodie he was wearing lifted up to his waist but he just curled up into a ball like he didn’t notice. “Then… do you have any suggestions about what to do about my artwork? Like..” He scrunched his nose up, “Should I just sell it online?” 

“You can do that if you’d like.” Chanyeol commented, “But i've actually been meaning to ask what you thought about maybe… selling it at the company building? Right downstairs where all clients can see. Sehun told me a few days ago he had a bunch of clients ask about the painting he did of a storm, he said he had to fend off clients from stealing it right out of his office.” 

“No way.” 

“I swear.” Chanyeol smiled down at his profile and reached over to run a hand over his bare hip, “My genius baby. It was Sehun's idea. You can come with me to the office tomorrow and we can set up an area.” 

_“Chan…”_ Baekhyun began hesitantly.

“Oh hush, it’s my company. And I said _yes._ Every artist needs exposure, don’t even feel like you’re reaching. I’m _telling_ you we’re going to put your paintings up for sale there, not asking. You’re going to get the money you deserve for your hard work.” 

The smaller smiled and turned to hide his face into Chanyeol’s slacks, clutching onto his leg tightly and looking so cute Chanyeol had to release a coo and scratch his scalp. 

“I’m very proud of you,” Chanyeol murmured, “You’ve done so well.” 

Baekhyun muffled a laugh into his leg and snuggled into him as Chanyeol tugged down his hoodie with a mumble that he could get cold. And for a little they just sat like that.

There were no plans made for tonight, so there was no rush or reason why they couldn’t just sit down and appreciate each other.

But Chanyeol knew Baekhyun still had more to say and get off his chest, so he wasn’t surprised when the smaller mumbled a very quiet, _“Yeol, I had a nightmare earlier.”_

Baekhyun didn’t sound afraid, at least not now, he didn’t even sound upset. He just said it plainly, like he simply wanted Chanyeol to know it happened. 

Chanyeol was just proud that he wanted to tell him anything at all regarding such a sensitive topic. 

“Is that so?” 

The smaller shifted to sit up and look at him, laying a flat palm onto Chanyeol’s thigh for stability as he asked, “Do you want to know about it?” 

“The question is do you want to tell me?” 

Baekhyun chewed on his cheek so hard Chanyeol could see the slight indent, but he let him think about it for a good few moments.

After all, this wasn’t his choice to make for Baekhyun. It was something very private that Chanyeol could only assume was about his past, because it was clear the past still hung over Baekhyun’s head every single day.

The past wouldn’t be something he could just get over. But it would be something they would work hard to overcome. Just like how Baekhyun didn’t outright reject his compliments of touch anymore, it took _way_ too many months, but here he was letting Chanyeol hold his hand anytime, and even having become a clingy love bug himself. 

“I want to look at you.” Baekhyun stated suddenly, sitting up and onto his knees, “Please?” 

“Ah, you want to appreciate my handsome face,” Chanyeol joked as he pulled his knee onto the sofa in order to shift and face him, “What a coincidence because I was just thinking about appreciating _your_ handsome face.” 

Baekhyun chuckled and gave a short, breathy laugh as he collected Chanyeol's palm and placed it onto his own knees with nervous fingers massaging his fingers. 

“This beauty mark is my _favorite,”_ Chanyeol added, tone less playful but soothing as he ran his thumb over the edge of Baekhyun’s lip where the tiniest of freckles sat. 

The elder’s expression shifted into one more calm as he pressed his lips together to restrain a smile before he cupped Chanyeol's head to run fingers over the shell of his ear. “You’re really the best.” 

“Oh you’re too sweet for your own good.” Chanyeol shot back as he cupped Baekhyun’s cheek right back, “Go ahead, tell me what you wanted to say, baby.” 

Baekhyun sighed a small bit and leaned over his lap with arms out to grab Chanyeol’s shoulders, “It wasn’t that bad. It was just… yelling. Fighting.” 

“You were crying, so it hurt. I don’t care if you think it wasn’t _that_ bad. It was.”

“I just… is it weird if I feel guilty because…” Baekhyun pressed his lips in a flat line before nervously looking at him, “I mean, I hit back. I didn’t know any better. I think he thought it was a joke when I’d hit him back and tell him to stop, he always started laughing…”

Chanyeol's jaw clenched up, but he refused to let Baekhyun see it as he tugged on his waist to pull him into his lap. “It’s not right, Baekhyun. That’s not right.” 

“Well…” Baekhyun whispered, laying his head on Chanyeol's shoulder as he shifted to straddle his lap. “I think he did it because it made me so mad, so then I’d try to hit him again then he had an excuse to hit me back. I don’t know. You and I don’t hit each other, so I know that me and him shouldn’t have been hurting too, but _god_ he was just horrible. He was so mean to me, Chanyeol. I would be trying to sleep and he’d come in the room and yank me up by my arm to start a fight, I never got to sleep.” 

Chanyeol was pushing the edge of showing his anger, but he couldn’t right now. Now when Baekhyun was opening up and sensitive towards his reaction. 

He only showed it in his clenched jaw and the hand that cupped around Baekhyun’s arm to massage it. “I’m so sorry. I’m sorry, sweetheart. You don’t deserve all that. You were such a sweet person even when you were younger, it’s understandable that sometimes you got fed up and wanted to fight back. You’re only human and people get angry.” 

Baekhyun sighed heavily and pushed up against his chest with fingers dipping below the collar of his top to brush his spine, “Can you cuddle me for a bit?” 

“I don’t have anything else I’d rather be doing, Baekhyun.” 

***

This was something Chanyeol had been thinking about lately. He was only human and he was _insanely_ attracted to Baekhyun like any person in their right mind would be.

But considering the smaller’s past and the fact that Baekhyun never got to experience many _good_ things regarding relationships, Chanyeol never mentioned this.

Until he had to, and it seemed like that day was going to be tonight. 

“What’re you doing?” Chanyeol asked with a soft laugh as he removed his watch, sitting on his bed to lay his things on the side table.

Baekhyun was distracting him _as usual,_ but this was on purpose. It was obviously on purpose considering the smaller didn’t normally take it upon himself to get ready for bed in just a towel.

“Chanyeol, can I ask you something personal?” 

“What is it, love bug?” 

With a small smile, Baekhyun looked at him as he removed his necklace. “Well, we’ve done a few things together.” 

Chanyeol frowned and eyed his amused grin. “What things?” 

“I’m just wondering…” Baekhyun murmured as he turned around, towel hanging around his hips and threatening to fall off with every move, “How come you haven’t tried to have sex with me? We’ve been together for a long time.” 

Chanyeol hummed and pushed himself back against the headboard as he unbuttoned his shirt, “I didn’t think it was really my choice to make, we didn’t talk about it.” 

“Yeol.” Baekhyun laughed and placed his hands onto the comforter to lean over with a fond grin. “Baby, you’ve had your fingers in my pussy more times than I can count, I hardly think wanting sex really needs to be discussed. Just put your cock in me for fucksake.” 

Chanyeol had no idea how the hell Baekhyun could just say that with a straight face. As if it required little to no thought to request something like that.

He wouldn’t lie and say it didn’t go directly to his cock though. 

“Holy fuck, how can you look at me like that and just say that?” Chanyeol gawked and put a hand out for him after he'd unbuttoned his shirt so it hung open on his shoulders. “Get your ass over here.” 

Baekhyun burst into a fit of excited giggles and crawled across the bed. His towel got snagged off about halfway there but it hardly mattered when his hips were grabbed in a moment so Chanyeol could devour his mouth. 

“You demon,” Chanyeol growled playfully against his lips, slipping a hand around Baekhyun’s neck to hold him against his mouth as he pushed Baekhyun onto his back.

A shriek of giggles poured from Baekhyun’s lips when his knees were urged apart so Chanyeol could fit himself between them. 

Chanyeol swallowed his laughter right up which just made Baekhyun smile more than really kiss back, but that was completely okay because Chanyeol liked to hear the way he’d stop giggling for a moment to kiss him back only to become overwhelmed with happiness once more.

A happy Baekhyun was all Chanyeol really asked for.

“You planned this all day, huh?” Chanyeol said, pressing their noses together as he dipped his hand around the back of Baekhyun’s thigh to brush fingertips over his entrance. “Sneaky boy.” 

Baekhyun tossed his upper half back against the mattress with a breathy laugh, “You’re a bit slow, baby.” 

“I didn’t want to take advantage of you being here. I didn't want it to seem like that.” 

“Can you shut up and fuck me already? I have a boner and you just make me want to coddle you instead.” 

“Oh, you poor thing,” Chanyeol cooed with a playful snap of his teeth at Baekhyun’s cheek as he reached between his legs for his erection. “I’ll take care of you now.” 

“Ugh, _finally.”_ Baekhyun hissed as he bucked his hips up into Chanyeol’s grip. 

His skin was still a light pink from his hot shower but his chest always turned a bright red when he got worked up and Chanyeol loved to see it. 

He leaned down to collect a rosy nipple between his lips to give it a harsh suck as he massaged the tip of his cock. 

Baekhyun gave a soft whine and dug nails into his hair, but Chanyeol had found that the smaller truly was impatient when things came to touching each other, so he just muffled a chuckle against his slick nipple when Baekhyun tugged at his head.

A string of spit connected Chanyeol's lips to the hard, pink bud when he pulled back with a laugh to catch his lips as he dropped his busy hand down to cup Baekhyun’s balls and press the tip of his pointer finger to his pussy.

He wouldn’t ever hurt Baekhyun by trying to press into him dry like this, but the smaller still moaned as he licked at Chanyeol's teeth at the feeling, doing the cutest impatient squirm against him. 

With a groan Chanyeol sucked his lip into his mouth when Baekhyun bit his lip hard and left it throbbing with need.

Chanyeol panted for a moment as he eyed the smaller who sighed as he tossed his arms beside his own head and closed his eyes, Baekhyun’s mouth was magenta and so pretty to look at with the side of his mouth pooling with drool. 

“Gorgeous, baby.” Chanyeol murmured and pressed a wet, lingering kiss onto the center of Baekhyun’s sternum before pulling away to stand at the side of the bed and shed his clothes. 

Baekhyun’s eyes popped open as soon as his body heat left him and he had a slight pout in his eyes as he sat up onto his knees to shove Chanyeol’s top off his shoulders while the other undid his jeans. 

“God, I can’t wait, I’ve been waiting for you to stick your cock in me,” Baekhyun purred, “Sometimes you're too much of a gentleman, and I can’t take it. I just have to fuck myself in the shower.”

“You’ve been fingering yourself in the shower?” 

“Well what else was I supposed to do?” Baekhyun asked with false innocence pouring from his tone, “I didn’t bring my dildos with me, Yeol. I knew you’d fuck the life out of me, but instead you play it safe. I love your mouth and fingers, baby, really. But please just pin me down and take me sometimes.” 

Chanyeol moaned under his breath and stepped out of his pants, “Turn over.” He ordered and delivered a snack to the inside of Baekhyun’s thigh before he dug through his side table.

Baekhyun laughed in a mischievous rhythm as he flipped over onto his hands and knees, giving his bottom a shake that made Chanyeol snort.

“Arch your back or it might hurt, remember?” Chanyeol said softly, laying a flat palm to his spine to gently push him onto his elbows. 

Despite Baekhyun seeming like he was a little mynx with tons of experience, Chanyeol still worried about him not being in a proper position and hurting himself, because it was blaringly obvious that some things Baekhyun hadn’t been told when it came to sex.

“Comfy?” Chanyeol leaned over his spine to see his face as he popped open the bottle of lube. 

Baekhyun looked cute with his cheek pressed against the covers, and he smiled really big when they met eyes. “I’m okay.” 

Chanyeol grinned and pressed a light kiss onto his shoulder as he pulled back to drag his dry palm across his spine to his round ass, Baekhyun truly had the most gorgeous body he'd ever seen, and that included the little pouch of a belly and his thick thighs. 

“Legs further apart, babydoll,” Chanyeol instructed softly and Baekhyun did so immediately, adjusting his thighs further apart without second thought.

The quick reaction without question made Chanyeol smile and press a kiss onto his left cheek.

Baekhyun squeaked and began to laugh when Chanyeol nipped at the skin and left a soft pink bite mark behind as he focused on pouring lube onto his hand. 

He was so familiar with how Baekhyun’s body worked that he was able to press his finger into his prostate with the first finger, not only making Baekhyun shudder and choke on air, but also making Chanyeol groan at how perfect the smaller’s body reacted to him. 

Baekhyun responded in kind to just his fingers, with each addition letting out a loud whine and pushing against him, muffling moans into the covers. He wasn’t much of a talker today, Chanyeol noted, but that likely had to do with being so worked up.

Three fingers was when Baekhyun snapped his teeth at him with a breathy whine, “Can’t you just fuck me already! I’m already open for you!” 

“Bossy.” 

“I swear to god-“

 _“What?”_ Chanyeol smirked and curled three of his fingers into his prostate and _left_ them sitting there. “Tell me, baby. What were you going to say?”

Baekhyun was now too busy choking on his spit to answer, but he did scrunch up his face in a way that looked like he was nearly in pain as he cried out a stuttered _“f-fuck!”_ and dropped his face onto the bed.

“I’ll stop playing, I’m sorry.” Chanyeol said with a snicker, removing himself to take his soaked hand and coat his cock in lube.

Baekhyun’s entire body slumped against the bed and Chanyeol cooed at him when he noticed his thighs were legitimately shaking. 

“Oh, _baby.”_ He mumbled affectionately, “Are you okay to be on your knees still?” 

“I…” Baekhyun licked his lips and sounded a bit hesitant, “My legs are shaking.” 

Chanyeol hummed and wrapped his hands around his hips to tug them to the end of the bed, “Sh, it’s okay, just relax. This is fine too.” 

Baekhyun made a noise of relief and clutched the covers in his palms as Chanyeol lined up his cock to his hole, looking more nervous than he let on and the taller knew that, so he watched him very closely. 

“Just take a deep breath, sweetheart,” Chanyeol crooned and leaned down to kiss his spine as he pressed into Baekhyun’s pussy, the excess lube he'd used made a wet noise and he held back his moan at how tight the smaller still felt only because he knew Baekhyun was having a hard time.

The elder didn’t say anything, but he released a small groan and dropped his face into the covers with fingers going white from holding on so tight. 

Baekhyun was uncomfortable, but Chanyeol had to push all the way in and give him a moment to breathe. 

“Hey, hey.” Chanyeol swallowed and tried not to moan as he reached over to gently turn Baekhyun’s head to the side so he could view his profile, and so the smaller could actually breathe. “Babe, does it hurt too much?” 

_“No.”_ Baekhyun whispered and licked his lips, “Just… the _stretch,_ it’s not what I’m used to. Just… just fuck me. It’s going to feel weird until you fuck me.” 

Chanyeol didn’t want to hurt him, but he knew Baekhyun was most likely right.

He started off with a short roll of his hips with fingers lingering gently over Baekhyun’s spine, the smaller looked exhausted as he hummed a soft moan and placed his cheek onto his forearm. 

It nearly made Chanyeol coo at him seeing as Baekhyun looked ready to go to sleep at any moment. If only Baekhyun hadn’t bit his lips quite so seductively; it sort of snapped Chanyeol out of his moment of wondering how in the world someone could look so gorgeous. 

“Come here,” Chanyeol ordered, removing himself only to help Baekhyun roll over and offering his hands to the elder. 

Baekhyun made a confused noise but shifted to the end of the bed to lock arms around his shoulders, “What are you doing?”

“Wrap your legs around me, baby.” He said softly, cupping the back of Baekhyun’s thighs, “Don't worry. I got you.” 

“You’re going to fuck me like this?” Baekhyun squeaked, but his eyes shone with something adoring as he leeched around him tightly. “Fuck, _Chan,_ that's so hot, baby.” 

Chanyeol had it in himself to snort and kiss the side of his face as Baekhyun nuzzled into his neck, reaching behind Baekhyun’s back to press the tip of his cock onto his stretched hole. 

Holding Baekhyun like this really wasn’t all that hard. Baekhyun was small and thin, and he was fairly used to carrying his weight around when the smaller demanded cuddles. 

Plus, this position got the reaction he'd wanted. He wanted to feel Baekhyun’s short gasp and the way he dug nails into his shoulders when his cock settled deep inside of him. 

“Oh- oh _fuck._ Fuck. It’s deep…” 

Chanyeol pressed his face into Baekhyun’s neck and held onto his ass as he began to fuck into him and the smaller positively lost his mind in a way that was just as cute as his content mewls from a bit ago.

“Chan! _Fu-_ what the fuck!” Baekhyun whined and mewled into his neck, mouth opened against his skin and attempting to press kisses down, but it ended up being his drool staining Chanyeol's skin instead of kisses.

Normally Chanyeol would tease him much more when they were being intimate, but he was just focusing on doing the best job he could and fucking him into oblivion. 

He barely focused on much more than turning Baekhyun’s ass a bright magenta color from holding onto the bouncy flesh so tight and he knew the smaller’s inner thighs would be the same color from the friction of being bounced up and down Chanyeol’s waist. 

“Baby, baby,” Baekhyun whined and sat up only a small bit to run a hand over the side of Chanyeol’s face and hold onto his cheek, “Kiss me.” 

Chanyeol moaned when Baekhyun connected their lips in a mesh of saliva and tongue, trying to kiss him back, but _fuck_ his pussy was so wet and warm around him it was hard to focus on one or the other. 

“Mm, hold on.” Chanyeol murmured onto his swollen lips, fixing his grip to hold Baekhyun’s head and lay them both down onto the corner of the bed.

Baekhyun began to giggle with this hooded eye, glossy smile, grabbing his sweat coated hair to push out of his face, “You getting old?” 

Chanyeol rolled his eyes at him and reached down to cup the back of his knees to hold them down onto his stomach and thrust up into him.

Baekhyun choked on his words in an instant, squirming a bit and reaching down to take hold of his own cock, _“Come on, baby. Come on. Cum in my pussy.”_

There was that mouth Chanyeol had been waiting for all night, the one Baekhyun couldn’t keep shut when he was worked up. 

Chanyeol managed to whisper an agreement and pet his thighs when Baekhyun huffed for air and laid his calves over his shoulders.

“Ah, baby - I’m almos- just-“ Baekhyun began to do this frantic motion where he tried to grab onto the nearest thing, in this case the bedding, and clenched his pussy up. 

_“Damn it.”_ Chanyeol growled and turned his head to press a kiss to his inner thigh as his thighs shook with his orgasm. 

He was just picturing the way Baekhyun’s inner walls had to be covered in his cum and how it was going to drool out of his pussy the moment he removed his cock.

Chanyeol took a breath for only a moment, sweat beading it's way down his forehead before he was slowly moving Baekhyun’s legs off onto the bedding and reaching for his cock.

 _“Ngl, sensitive!”_ Baekhyun complained, covering his cheeks.

“You too, baby. Come on, cum for me, love bug.” 

All it took was a rub of his thumb from the tip of his cock down to mid-shaft and Baekhyun’s cock began to spurt out rivers of cum. 

Chanyeol chuckled breathily as he had to hold his hips still in order to pump his cock a few times and make sure his lover was finished. 

Baekhyun was when he whined and tried to shut his shaking legs around Chanyeol's waist. That's when Chanyeol gave a big sigh of content and pulled out of him just to lay down on the bed.

“Did so good,” Baekhyun giggled with hooded eyes and squirmed to lay onto his outstretched arm, “When you picked me up, that was real hot.” 

“Ugh, can you be a little demon later?” Chanyeol complained playfully and wrapped his arm around the back of Baekhyun’s head to pull him closer in order to press a kiss to his cheek. “My cock can’t handle that little grin, stop it.” 

Baekhyun hummed and made a show of smiling brightly and curling a leg around Chanyeol's hip.

They laid there for a few minutes before Chanyeol cleared his throat and ran a hand down his spine. “Let’s get you in a bath and clean you up.” He said quietly, pressing his lips to Baekhyun’s head before shifting the smaller off of him.

Chanyeol walked into the bathroom door directly across the room to turn on the tub and lay a robe out on the towel rack before coming back into the room and finding Baekhyun sitting cross legged on the side of the bed with an unreadable expression. 

“What?” Chanyeol laughed and offered him a hand, “Why are you staring like that, sweetheart?” 

Baekhyun didn’t answer, but he did release a squeak when his knees went wobbly as soon as his feet touched the floor and he tried to stand up. 

“I got you.” Chanyeol grabbed his waist and scooped him up while Baekhyun burst into a few giggles.

“Well _that’s_ new.” Baekhyun laughed, “My muscles are jelly.” 

“Just for a bit,” Chanyeol chuckled and kissed his cheekbone before placing his feet in the tub and helping him down onto his knees on one side so he could fit into the other. 

“How come you did all the work but my muscles are nonexistent right now?” Baekhyun complained and slumped against his chest, leeching onto him much more than normal, but Chanyeol would never deprive a cuddly Baekhyun. 

“Oh shush, let me clean you up, come here.” 

Baekhyun hummed under his breath and laid his chin on his shoulder as he straddled Chanyeol's lap, making a small embarrassed noise when he felt a finger at his entrance. “I can do it myself.” 

“Do you want to?”

Baekhyun didn’t reply so Chanyeol released a deep laugh into his shoulder and tried to be as gentle as possible cleaning him up. 

When he deemed Baekhyun cleaned up enough, he reached for the body wash and lathered his palms to run down the smaller’s spine only to notice the two brown eyes locked on his profile. 

“What, bumblebee?” Chanyeol teased, turning to peck his forehead.

“Chanyeol.” Baekhyun said quietly, pushing back against his chest to look at him, “I think I’m in love with you.” 

“When you tack on _I think_ it makes me unsure to admit I love you. Not with an _I think,_ I know I love you, Baekhyun.” 

Baekhyun’s eyes went big and he shifted to press his back against the wall of the tub before fumbling beneath the water for Chanyeol's hand. “How come you're not surprised?”

“I overheard you a week ago.” Chanyeol admitted under his breath with an apologetic undertone, bringing a hand to the back of his head to tug him down for a kiss. “I didn’t know how to tell you I heard you on the phone.” 

Baekhyun stared blankly at him for a minute before outright whining and tossing himself at his neck, “I wanted to surprise you…” He complained, nuzzling beneath Chanyeol's ear, “That's not fair, pretend you heard nothing.” 

Chanyeol chuckled and adjusted Baekhyun’s knees on either side of him before pressing a kiss to the tattoo on his neck, “Okay, redo. This time remove the _I think_ from your confession. It was cute and all, but being nervous isn’t your style.” 

“Ugh. Now I’m too embarrassed to say it again.” 

“Then we’ll sit in this tub all day, I’m holding you captive until you say it.” 

_“Yeol!”_ Baekhyun shrieked in laughter and tried to climb out of the tub. 

(He didn’t get far at all.) 

***

Baekhyun had been spending a lot of time at his office. Much more than previously expected given there wasn’t much for the smaller to do there.

He usually just set up his portable canvas stand and sat on the floor to paint a few things, or he would spend time downstairs rearranging his paintings that were for sale on the ground floor, right by the windows. 

Chanyeol had been right. A little publicity was all Baekhyun’s art really needed, instead of hiding in the corner of some mom and pop shops for sale he had a place for them visible to everyone.

And _everyone_ fell in love with his pieces. 

It wasn’t shocking to Chanyeol, of course not, he had paid $50k for a single piece of Baekhyun’s work that Baekhyun claimed had been labeled for only $20 when he first tried to sell it. But it shocked Baekhyun. 

Every single time he came racing upstairs with a new check or cash he had this glowing beam on his face and screamed various claims that he was going to spoil Chanyeol rotten. 

Which, for the record, he _did_ buy him a watch that Chanyeol had plenty of money to buy himself and had actually been upset Baekhyun spent his first check on. Other than that Chanyeol was pretty good at sending him a warning look these days. 

Baekhyun wanted to spoil him, he got that, he liked to spoil Baekhyun too, but at this point he was happy enough just scooping him up to grab something from the drive thru and binge watching movies all night - he didn’t want materialistic things when instead Chanyeol could get the same bright grin from Baekhyun with just a few kisses. 

It was just taking Baekhyun a bit longer to learn he could get the same reaction out of Chanyeol just by clinging as he did when giving him an excessively expensive watch.

 _And_ it was taking Baekhyun a while to recognize that treating clients nice no matter what was something he had to do.

For the past half hour Chanyeol noticed Baekhyun peeking out of the main sitting area of his office to stick his nose out the rolling door and watch him and the woman seated across from him discuss tactics.

But, admittedly, Chanyeol did get clients that pressed a bit too hard and asked a bit too many personal questions. 

He knew he was attractive, but he was also very much taken. 

“You know, my winery would look amazing if I had staff as handsome as you around.” 

“Oh thank you.” Chanyeol murmured and looked down at his notes, “So you were saying that -“

“It’s a shame you stay in this office so often. I wonder how much money you make annually here, perhaps we can come to a deal?”

Chanyeol jolted back when a hand passed over his fingers and a foot brushed his own beneath the desk, he cleared his throat, pushing his chair back and fixing her with a firm look. “Ms. Lee, I’m here to discuss designs, if you do not keep it professional I’m afraid-“

The door to the sitting area rolled open quickly, loudly, and Baekhyun stormed in with a fake smile and a storm in his eyes as he came into the office. “Chanyeol, I need to speak with you.” 

“Right.” Chanyeol clicked his tongue and tore his note sheet off to shove across the desk at his client, “Drop this off with my assistant on your way out.” 

The woman was rather pretty, but Chanyeol couldn’t help the small snort that he released when she eyed Baekhyun like he was the devil reincarnated. 

“Honeybee,” Chanyeol put a hand out for Baekhyun as he stood up and saw the girl look between them with something akin to disgust.

That was fine. He’d take his relationship with Baekhyun over losing a homophobic client any day. 

“Come here,” Baekhyun looked a bit downcast and tugged his hand towards the sitting room. 

Chanyeol sent Ms. Lee a rather fake wave and rolled the door shut with a resounding click of the lock before turning to see what Baekhyun was doing. 

A moment later he heard the door to his office slam shut and nearly laughed if Baekhyun hadn’t looked so dull eyed.

“Hey, don’t be all puppy eyed.” Chanyeol laughed and walked behind him to wrap around his back. “I love _you._ Don't be jealous.” 

“I’m not.”

“That's exactly what a jealous person says.” 

Baekhyun whined and threw an elbow back into his side before sighing and twisting around to hold onto his neck. “I don’t like when people look at you like that.” 

Chanyeol hummed and pressed a gentle kiss against his cheekbone before swaying him playfully back and forth, “Is that so?” 

“I’ve never been jealous in my _life,_ Chanyeol.” Baekhyun huffed into his collarbone, “I don’t like it. Stop being so attractive.” 

“If I stopped doing that then my baby would leave me.” Chanyeol teased, pinching his side and making Baekhyun pout and smack his shoulder.

“Now you're just being mean.” Baekhyun complained, “I would still love you even if… even if you were bald!” He began to laugh, “And even if you had a chubby belly and if you were-“

“Yah, what are you-“ 

Chanyeol actually looked up at him in shock when he was pushed onto the couch, he didn’t think Baekhyun had the strength for it, but the smaller was giggling and climbing onto a single thigh of his to push his button up away.

“Are you seriously giving me a blow job because you’re jealous?” 

Baekhyun blinked innocent eyes at him as he undid his belt. “I would still love you even if your cock was small, but I’m really happy it’s not.”

Chanyeol rolled his eyes and threw an arm over his face, “God, why do I put up with you?” 

“You love me.” 

_“I do.”_

***

“Chanyeol. I need to tell you something.” 

Well _that_ was definitely not what he wanted to hear first thing out of Baekhyun’s mouth in the morning.

Chanyeol made an acknowledging noise from his place flopped across the couch as he heard the pitter-patter of Baekhyun’s bare feet on the kitchen tiles behind him. “Yes, baby?” 

The younger had been just relaxing and looking around the living room because normally Baekhyun didn’t come downstairs or wake up until after noon, so he didn’t start breakfast until then.

Plus, sometimes it was just nice to look around. Baekhyun had started a new project that involved the vases that had just been plain turquoise, so now they had black tape blocking off the pattern Baekhyun liked and he had no idea what the smaller had planned but it didn’t matter; he knew they would turn out gorgeous anyway. 

“I just got a call.” Baekhyun paused to yawn before sighing, “Landlord cleaned the place up, next week they finish up the flooring and it’s ready again.” 

Chanyeol felt his heart sink down to his stomach and grabbed the back of the couch to yank himself up, “So soon?”

 _“Puppy.”_ Baekhyun gave a short, dull laugh that wasn’t like him at all as he leaned on the kitchen counter. “It’s been six months.” 

“Has it really?” Chanyeol frowned and rubbed his temple as he made his way into the kitchen, “It doesn’t feel like it’s been that long?”

Baekhyun shrugged and gave the fakest, closed lip smile that Chanyeol had ever seen. “I know.” 

“But…” Chanyeol tried to find an excuse but fell short, rubbing the stubble on his jaw as he searched for words, he licked his lips and cleared his throat. “Baek, I…” 

He didn’t know how to say anything. Chanyeol sounded desperate if he told Baekhyun to stay yet he could tell the smaller was tore up about the information - but that could be for a number of reasons, it didn’t mean that he _wanted_ to stay here with him. 

It could be Baekhyun being upset in general about being reminded about his studio, or him being worried about being alone again. 

Chanyeol didn’t want to leave Baekhyun alone, he knew the smaller would just sit there all day worrying about the outcome of Taesan’s court hearings.

At least if he worried here Chanyeol could point out that the piece of shit had no idea where they lived and it would calm Baekhyun down in an instant.

Chanyeol didn’t want to get his hopes up. 

“I'll just…” Baekhyun mumbled and opened the fridge, “I’ll start packing when I finish off my box of ice cream.” 

Chanyeol's brows shot up and he cleared his throat as he walked over to press his chest to Baekhyun’s back and shut the freezer over his head. “Then I’m just going to have to go get more.” 

Baekhyun turned around with big, round eyes and Chanyeol plucked the arm ice cream bar from his hand.

The smaller stared at him as he tossed it into the freezer before Baekhyun was gripping his bare waist with freezing cold fingers, “Is that the deal then?” 

“That's the deal.” Chanyeol said firmly, cupping his face on both hands and leaning down to press their foreheads together. “I’ll even help you pack. Once you finish the ice cream bars of course.” 

“Then… then we should go to the store later,” Baekhyun nodded and wrapped his hand around Chanyeol's neck, “Because, you know, I could finish that whole box in one day. We can’t have that happening.” 

Chanyeol hummed and caught his lips in a kiss that lasted a few moments before gently pushing him out of the way and opening the freezer.

“Yeol?” Baekhyun tilted his head to the side and crossed his arms from the coldness of the freezer, “What are you doing, baby?”

Chanyeol shrugged and fumbled with the cardboard boxes of frozen foods, “I’m making room for your ice cream. We’re going to need a lot of room if we’re buying all of them. Should I just buy a deep freezer? It would fit in here.” 

Baekhyun released a single laugh before more began to flood from his lips and turned into watery sniffles, then he dropped onto his knees to latch arms around Chanyeol's back. “I love you. And _yes_ we should just get another freezer. It’s going to be a lot of ice cream.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Twitter: Gigi_B56 - Come see sneak peeks of stories!
> 
> https://curiouscat.qa/Gigi_B56 - Ask me questions!


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